Hidden Secrets
by YourMonster
Summary: This is a story that takes another view of the Harry Potter series. What if Draco and Hermione had known each other before Hogwarts? What happens when her friends find out that Hermione wasn't really who they thought she was? Takes place in 4th year.
1. Chapter 1

Hidden Secrets

And

Stolen Kisses

By Your Monster

Chapter One A New Year

Hermione woke up to her alarm at seven a.m. She rolled over and turned it off. Her fat cat Crookshanks jumped off her bed and silently padded away. Hermione looked at her calendar and smiled. Today, she was going back to Hogwarts for her fourth year. Rather than staying all summer at the Weasley's home like she would have, her mom had forced her to return home after the incident at the Quidditch World Cup. She had spent the rest of the time owling Draco. After what had happened at the world cup, he'd owled her immediately. At first she had tried to ignore the letter, but his owl made that quite difficult. They ended up talking about their huge fight that had occurred at the end of their second year and both got over what had happened. All of this, had happened much against her mum's wishes.

She got up and headed to the bathroom for a quick shower. About twenty minutes later, she got out and headed back into her room. After drying off, she slid on jean mid thigh high shorts and a grey shirt. Just as she was about to head down for breakfast, a quick tapping noise on her window caught her attention. She turned around and there sat Dragoness, Draco's owl. Hermione opened the window and let her in. Dragoness hooted happily and stuck out a leg where there was a note tied. Hermione untied it and read what it said.

**Hermione, meet me on the train near the prefects corridor. -Draco**

"Aw, poor thing," she crooned softly, "sent all the way here just so he could write me a few words."

She gave Dragoness a few owl treats and watched her fly off. Once she couldn't see her anymore, Hermione turned around and went downstairs to prepare breakfast. But she stopped dead when she saw that her mum was already in the kitchen, preparing herself eggs and hash browns.

"Mum," Hermione said briskly and grabbed toast and a cup of orange juice. Her mother didn't even bother glancing at her.

Hermione downed the orange juice and took a bite of the toast before running back upstairs. She quickly packed the last of her things and by 9.30, she was ready to leave.

"Mum, can we go now? Or I'm going to be late," Hermione called out to her. All her mom did to acknowledge that she had heard was to grab the car keys and start the car. Hermione sighed and grabbed her trunks.

At ten, they arrived at the train station and Hermione grabbed her things, hurriedly getting out of the car. Her mom drove off and Hermione scowled at the receding figure. She grabbed a cart and set her things on it. While the people were looking away, she went and pushed the cart through the barrier.

As she went through, she crashed into someone else's cart.

"Oi! Watch where you're going," a red headed boy called out angrily. Hermione grinned when she recognized Ron's voice.

"Hermione!" he then cried out and hugged her tightly, her feet slightly dangling.

"Ron, can't breathe," she gasped out. He let go of her and set her on the ground. Even though she had grown an inch over the summer, Ron had apparently spurted another two inches.

"Jeez Ron, don't kill her," a raven haired boy chuckled.

"Hi Harry," Hermione grinned, hugging him. Then, she spotted a flash of platinum blond hair and a pair of grey blue eyes wink at her. She smiled and then felt someone shake her slightly.

"Hermione, I asked you, how was the rest of your summer?" Ron called out again.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It was a bit dull. But fine anyways." she smirked and grabbed her trunk before heading into the train. Harry and Ron looked at each other in bewilderment as Draco's signature trademark smirk flashed across their friend's face. The three teens grabbed their bags and headed to the last compartment and sat down. Once they got all their things settled, Hermione got up, told the two wizards that she had to go find Ginny and then promptly left.

"Harry, do you think that Hermione's hiding something from us?" Ron asked, two minutes after Hermione left.

"Like what?" Harry snorted, rolling his eyes. The thought of Hermione hiding anything from him was absolutely ridiculous.

"Well, maybe she started dating someone over the summer and doesn't want us to find out about them," he suggested.

"So what? Maybe it's just a crush and she'll get over it once she finds out how infatuated you are with her," Harry replied. Ron's ears turned red and he mumbled something about the potions book and that he didn't know what he was talking about.

Harry grinned, knowing that he had hit a soft spot.

Hermione walked around the train, humming their favorite song, Bring Me To Life. A compartment quietly slid open and before she could even gasp, Hermione was pulled in. She looked up in surprise and found herself staring at a grinning boy. His usually cold eyes were now alive with laughter and full of warmth.

A dazzling smile found its way on Hermione's face and she quickly went to embrace him and held on tightly.

"Merlin, I've missed you so much Hermione," he whispered as he hugged her and pulled her up.

"Me too, Draco," she said, burying her face into the crook of his neck. They stood there for a few minutes, relishing in each others embrace. Draco finally set her down slowly and was surprised to see her hastily wipe away a few tears. "I can't believe I'm really standing here with you again," she murmured.

"Believe it," he laughed and Hermione couldn't help but slowly drop her guard down. "I know, you told me that you never wanted to see my face again, but Hermione, I meant what I told you in my letter. I just want another shot at getting back what I let go." He sat down and shook his head. "At the world cup, knowing that your life was in the hands of two of the biggest gits in the world just absolutely terrified me. I knew they wouldn't think that you would be in any danger because you're Hermione fucking Granger, but nonetheless, those Death Eaters wouldn't have hesitated at entertaining themselves by torturing you."

"It probably would've been even better for them because I am Hermione Granger," she said softly.

"Exactly," Draco looked up at her. Hermione sat down next to him and Draco grabbed her hand. "All I'm asking for is one shot Hermione. One shot and if I mess up, I'll never bother you again."

"You sure you want to risk that?" Hermione asked teasingly and Draco's eyes lit up.

"I swear you won't regret this," he said as he hugged her happily.

"I know I won't," Hermione whispered.

Draco pulled back and took something out of his pocket.

"Got you something," he said and gave her a black, velvet box. Hermione looked at it for a few seconds until Draco finally sighed.

"Well, are you going to open it?" he asked. Hermione rolled her eyes and opened it.

"It's beautiful," she gasped.

"Let me help you," Draco said. He grabbed the necklace and Hermione faced the other way, pulling her hair up so it wouldn't disturb him. When he finally got it on, she gingerly lifted it up and looked at the object. It was a beautiful, emerald dragon that head a small ruby for its eye. The sun hit it and it seemed to stir, as if alive, then remained still.

Hermione dropped her hair and leaned on Draco.

"My father wants to know if you want to come with us to Spain during the summer break. Everyone misses you an awful lot," Draco said.

"Of course I will," Hermione exclaimed happily. "Oh, I miss all of you guys."

"I should probably go now," she said. Draco looked at her and arched an eyebrow. "Wouldn't want to see you get beat up by two overbearingly possessive boys."

"Oh please," Draco snorted and stood up. He held out his hand and Hermione took it. He helped her up and they hugged again.

"I'll see you later then," she laughed and ran out.

Hermione walked back into the compartment with Ron and Harry and found the boys in the middle of an Exploding Snap game. She sat down and took out her _Hogwarts, A History _and commenced reading it.

"So, 'Mione, did you find Ginny?" Ron asked once he noticed that his friend was back in the compartment.

"Oh, um, no. I couldn't find her, but I'll just see her at the Great Hall or even in the dormitory. So, no worries," she said. Ron just grunted and resumed placing the cards carefully.

"Do you two know why we had to buy dress robes this year?" Hermione asked them without looking up from her book. The two wizards shook their head, but Hermione took in their silence as them ignoring her. She sighed and merely continued reading.

"Why hasn't Malfoy and his goons come to bother us like they usually do?" Harry asked when he realized that the compartment had gotten quiet and they hadn't at all been pestered by annoying Slytherins.

"Who cares?" Hermione snapped. "Let's just be glad that they haven't."

Harry and Ron looked at each other, surprised at her Hermione's reaction when the compartment door opened suddenly.

"Well, well, well. It seems like we've got the whole gang together," a familiar voice drawled. Harry and Ron got up quickly, wands ready to duel.

"What are you doing here Malfoy?" Harry asked.

"And with none of your goons around," Ron pointed out.

"I don't need those dolts for what's about to happen right now," Draco scoffed at them. "I've simply come to offer a truce."

Harry felt as if a ton of bricks had suddenly hit him.

"Oh, I now we all enjoy our little banters but really," Draco leaned on the door and crossed his arms, his hair falling slightly in his face. The sight would've made any girl swoon. "It's not that stimulating. I've got better things to do. Especially for this year." he grinned wickedly and stretched out his hand. "So?"

"What's the catch?" Harry asked. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that Draco Malfoy, sworn enemy since my first year, has decided to end our constant bickering?"

"You wound me Potter," Malfoy said, mocking hurt and placing a hand over his chest. "Let's just say a really pretty friend of mine has given me a second chance. So I thought, why not give those thick-heads a second chance too? After all, we all deserve a fresh start. But don't expect us to be all best friends or anything like that." he laughed scornfully and held his hand out again. "So, truce or not?"

Harry slowly accepted his hand and shook it. He still wasn't sure if Malfoy was yanking his chain or not, but he would have to be an idiot to not jump at the offer of the Slytherin Prince not bugging them anymore.

Ron reluctantly shook Malfoy's hand also, wishing with all his might that he could hex him right there and then.

"Hermione?" Harry looked back at their clever friend and was slightly upset at the fact that she had completely ignored everything that had just happened.

"Oh," Malfoy shook his head and smirked at them, "Hermione and I have already made our truce."

The two boys stared shocked at him, not able to completely comprehend what had just been said to them.

"Oy, and Granger," Hermione looked up in surprise, "nice legs," he winked at her and walked away. Ron and Harry whipped around to look at Hermione and saw to their horror that their friend was blushing at Malfoy's comment.

"What the bloody hell just happened right now?" Ron nearly exploded.

"Calm down," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "You two might as well sit down. It might shock you two a bit."

The two wizards did as she said, Ron fuming while Harry just seemed dazed.

"If you must now," she began, "Draco and I have been friends for awhile."

"Oh, oh it's Draco now, isn't it?" Ron said nastily.

"Oh shut up Ronald," Hermione said angrily. "If you don't want to hear about it then you or I can just leave right now."

"Just ignore Ron," Harry said. "Continue."

"Thank you Harry," Hermione nodded. "As I was saying, Draco and I have been friends for quite a considerable amount of time. We met each other at a pre school when we were just four. I had no idea about stupid prejudice's and the Malfoy's seemed kind enough to me at the time. At least his mum was. I rarely ever saw Mr. Malfoy. Anyways, I met you two, then you three decided that you hated each other. It was all fine for me until Halloween. Because of the fact that I became friends with you two dolts also made it very difficult for me to stay friends with Draco. Not that anyone really knew about it. I mean, Neville and the Patil twins know because we were all in a 5th grade class, Luna Lovegood knows because she's friends with Draco's sister, and your twin brothers know since I told them last year."

"Wait, Fred and George knew about this?" Ron asked. "And they didn't even tell me?"

"Exactly," Hermione said.

"Who's Luna Lovegood?" Harry asked. "And if you and Malfoy have been friends this whole time, why'd you punch him last year?"

"She's a third year Ravenclaw. I wouldn't expect you two to know her," Hermione said matter of factly. "The punch brings me to the end of our second year. Draco and I got into a bit of a spat and I told him that I never wanted to speak to him again nor did I want to see his face. So, third year was kind of a strained year for us. There were really bad yelling matches. But, it's all in the past now hopefully. We talked it out over the summer after the Quidditch World Cup incident. Even though my mother had completely forbidden me from talking to him or his mother ever again. Like I would listen," she snorted. "So, that's my life in a bottle. You can either live with it, or we can call it quits."

"You and Malfoy call it quits?" Ron asked hopefully.

"No you dolt. I just got my old best friend back. I'm not calling it quits with him in just a matter of minutes. I meant us three call it quits." Hermione looked at Ron angrily.

"There's no need for drastic measures," Harry sighed. "I mean, eventually, hopefully, Ron and I won't think it's too weird that you and Malfoy are friends. Like Malfoy said, don't expect us to become friends."

"Of course not," Hermione laughed. "Just the fact that you guys are giving each other a chance is good enough for me." She smiled at them brightly and opened up her book.

The two wizards sat there silently, both processing what Hermione had just said to them and coming to their own conclusions.

Halfway through the passage that she was reading, a thought popped up in her head.

{Damn you Hermione! Nobody's supposed to know that your mum's a witch and you nearly let it slip.}

She shook her head and thanked her lucky stars that Harry and Ron weren't very good at deciphering what was right in front of them or seeing the obvious.

Draco paced around the empty compartment, wistfully wishing that Hermione were in there with him at that moment. He sat down and closed his eyes. Had anyone ever told him, when he was four, that a four year old girl would forever change his life, he would have laughed at them and walked away. Now here he was, ten years later and being civil towards Harry fucking Potter. And all because Hermione had said yes to his offer.

"You've got a lot of work ahead of you, don't you?" Blaise's head popped into the compartment and smirked at Malfoy.

"Oh shut up. All I have to do is avoid those two stupid prats so nothing happens," Draco sneered. "I just want to know how Hermione is dealing with their reactions." he started laughing and shook his head. "Oh man, you should've seen the look on their faces when I called Hermione by her first name. It was epic. And when I complimented her, wish I could've taken a picture of them."

Blaise snorted and shook his head.

"Well. You're pseudo fiancée is desperately searching for you, so I suggest that you scram or make a glamour charm. Whatever works for you," Blaise sent one last smirk at the terrified wizard and closed the door.

"Shit," Draco muttered. Two seconds later, he shot out of the compartment and ran off towards the Slytherin area.

Hermione had been dragged away from her compartment by a flustered Ginny and then Ginny proceeded to tell her some interesting news.

"What?" she laughed, not wanting to believe her ears.

"You heard me," Ginny said. "I heard Harry talking to Hedwig about some girl that he liked and he started to describe her and I swear that she sounded like the Ravenclaw chaser."

"Cho Chang?" Hermione asked. "It must be. You should've seen him at the world cup when we went to get water. We saw her and her family and Harry sloshed a lot of the water onto him." She giggled and sighed. "Well, if you really want him to notice you, you're just going to have to be patient. I mean, we're talking about Harry Potter here. First, he's thick headed when it comes to noticing girls sometimes, and second, what mainly fills his head is how to destroy you know who. It's not going to be easy."

"Well, I guess it's better than to have some idiot like my brother fancying me," Ginny said.

"Excuse me?" Hermione looked at her, shocked. Ginny giggled and shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't think that your brother knows when he himself likes someone. Honestly, that boy has an emotional range of a teaspoon," Hermione huffed and crossed her arms.

"Well," Ginny started and was interrupted by Draco crashing into their compartment.

"Oh, um," he looked around, flustered and his face had a slight pinkish tinge.

"It's fine Draco," Hermione said, grabbing his hand and pulling him to the seat. Ginny looked at them surprised and walked out the door.

Hermione pulled her legs up and rested her head on Draco's shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Draco asked her, placing his arm around her shoulder. She sighed and Draco buried his face in her hair and closed his eyes. Her hair was no longer as frizzy as it had once been and it tickled his nose.

"Ron likes me, but he's too much of an idiot to realize that and I just know that this is going to be a very painful year," Hermione said. He smirked and sputtered as if surprised.

"What?"

Actually, when Ginny had told Hermione that her brother fancied her, Draco had been walking by and for some reason, the picture of Hermione and Ron together had sickened him.

"Yeah, it's going to be one interesting year," Hermione muttered.

Ginny left Draco and Hermione alone in the compartment and started walking back to where Harry and Ron were.

Why did Hermione Granger, Gryffindor Princess, casually take Draco's hand. Merlin, he's the Slytherin Prince for pete's sake. They just don't go hand in hand. Muggle born witch and the richest, most powerful pureblood wizard, who's ever heard of that friendship?

By the time she finished her thought, she had been standing in front of Harry and Ron for the past minute without even noticing.

"Ginny, I asked you where's Hermione?" Harry asked her, waving his hand in front of her face.

"Oh, she's with Malfoy," she flushed red. Both boys stared at each other, then back at Ginny.

"Where are they?" Ron snarled. Ginny motioned them to follow her and walked back to the compartment that she had dragged Hermione into. As they got closer, they could hear Hermione laughing as if she had been place in a tickling charm. They burst in to see Draco pinning Hermione to a corner and tickling her. They looked over in surprise and Draco smoothly stepped back and Hermione stood up, fixing her hair.

"I just came to say that you might want to change into your robes. We're almost at Hogwarts," Harry said emotionlessly.

Nobody noticed Ron had left.

"Thanks," Hermione mumbled and walked over to them. "Bye Draco." he waved back at her and watched her go. "Ginny, close your mouth," Hermione sighed. Ginny did and she left back to her group of friends.

As Harry and Hermione walked down the train, she kept glancing at him worriedly.

"Harry, are you okay?" she finally asked him, placing her hand on his arm.

"I'm fine, it's just kind of weird," he said.

"It's okay," Hermione said.

Hogwarts loomed over them and Hermione smiled.

"Welcome home Harry."


	2. Chapter 2 New Surpises

disclaimer- since i forgot last time, not mine. if it was, it wouldn't be here. only own Autumn and Raven.

A/N btw, if you don't really like anything about gays, i warn you now to leave. there is no girl on girl action or guys doing stuff or any of that sort, but it does get implied about people liking each other. no action, but there's still that attraction. oh, and thoughts are in italics.

A/N thanks to jessierose85, Aussie Panda, adalis and all you others for putting my story on story alert. thanks jessierose85 and Aussie Panda for reviewing my story. OK----- sideways person!

Chapter Two New Surprises

"Firs' years, over here," Hagrid's voice boomed out. Harry, Ron and Hermione all beamed up at him and walked to where the carriages were.

"Hey Hermione," Lavender squealed. Hermione looked back and saw Lavender running towards her and the Patil twins were following behind. "You boys don't mind if we steal her?" Lavender asked. They shook their heads but she was already dragging Hermione away.

"Don't know why she asked," Ron muttered. Harry shrugged and said something that sounded like 'girls'.

Hermione, Lavender and the twins sat in another carriage.

"So," Lavender's eyes were glowing in excitement, "Guess what the Patil twins heard?" she asked Hermione.

"I don't know," Hermione shrugged.

"Well, they heard from Susan Bones, who heard from her aunty that there's going to be a Yule Ball this year," she squealed in excitement.

Hermione looked at them, surprised, and then all four girls started squealing in excitement.

"Are you serious?" she laughed. Lavender nodded her head and Hermione laughed. "This'll be fun."

They got to Hogwarts and hopped off, walking into the Great Hall. The younger of the Patil twins waved goodbye and headed off to the Ravenclaw table while the rest went to the Gryffindor table.

When Harry and Ron got there, they sat down across from them and tried to keep up with what they were saying. After two minutes of laughter they gave up.

Ron looked over to the Slytherin's table and watched Draco watch Hermione.

_Is he_, he looked closer,_ is he really smiling?_

At that moment, Draco looked at him, scowling. His eyes were the same steely gray that they always were.

_Naw, must've been my imagination._

"Boot, Terrence," Professor McGonagall called out.

Oh wow, when did they start? Ron thought to himself.

"RAVENCLAW!" the hat called out. "Bott, Marie,"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The Hufflepuff table cheered for their new addition.

The list went on.

"I swear the kids are getting shorter every year," Ron said to Harry after Pritchard, Graham (Slytherin) was called.

Harry smothered a laugh.

"I wish they would hurry up," Ron moaned, "I'm so hungry I could eat a hippogriff."

Dumbledore finally stood up and a silence swept across the Great Hall.

"To all the old students, welcome back. To the new ones, welcome. Now I have some surprises for you," he smiled and then suddenly, a door to his right opened and out walked the strangest man anyone had ever seen.

"This is his new job?" Hermione heard George whisper to Fred.

"Ah," Dumbledore smiled at the man and looked back at his students. "Everyone, please join me in welcoming this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." His clap echoed around the hall, seeing as how the staff clapped very politely and the students just sat there staring at him in wonderment and shock.

The man had an electric blue eye that was apparently made of glass and seemed to look around everywhere and then one normal blue eye. His nose seemed to be missing chunks from it and they could hear the dull *thunk* of his peg leg.

"Merlin, is that Mad Eye Moody?" Ron asked.

"You bet," the Weasley twins laughed.

"Now then, where did I leave off?" Dumbledore said. "Ah yes. I have some surprises in store for you. First, let us give a warm welcome to two students who have transferred here from Beauxbatons. Miss Autumn Malfoy and Miss Raven Zabini. They are both in their third year and I hope that you will show these lovely girls around."

Everyone clapped, a bit surprised, as the two girls walked to the Slytherin table. Their hairs were matching lengths, reaching to mid-back, and one was a platinum blonde while the other had a Snow white black.

"Give you two guesses as to who's Malfoy and which one is the Zabini," Ron snickered softly.

"My next surprise is that this year we will be visited by two other wizarding schools," a murmur rose up at this and Dumbledore merely held his hands up. "Uhp uhp. I cannot tell you as of now why, but it will be the illustrious Beauxbatons Academy and the notorious Durmstrang students." Some of the teens snickered at this and a few rolled their eyes. "As the events that shall occur because of these two schools, it has come to my attention that there is a possibility that many of you will stay at the school. If that becomes the case, we will have our very first Secret Santa exchange."

At this, several of the half bloods and muggle born witches and wizards gasped in surprise and excitement. The Slytherin table groaned at this unexpected turn of events, having a brief knowledge of what this muggle activity was. The rest of the students on the other hand, merely looked around confused.

Dumbledore smiled and put his hands up, causing the Great Hall to die down. "More of this shall be explained later just in case our guests choose to participate in them. And now, let us eat!" He waved his arms and the tables were soon filled with food.

"Finally," Ron sighed and seemed to attack the food, scarfing things down quickly.

"It's like he's completely barbaric," Hermione whispered to Harry as they watched their friend easily polish off two plate serving of food. Harry laughed and scooped some food onto his plate.

"Better hurry up before he finishes everything," he told Hermione. With that, she laughed and took a little bit of the roast.

The hall was filled with the sound of children of all ages laughing and talking. Draco looked around and sighed mentally. Everything seemed so much lighter and wonderful now that he had Hermione back in his life. Having his sister at his side was a pleasant surprise, but he just hoped that Raven would find someone other than her to hang out with. All Autumn could do was break peoples hearts and Raven was to special for that. She needed someone who could match her eccentricity and also bring out her fun side whenever she was down.

"Let's go," Autumn said, getting up and others following her. Draco shook his head slightly and got up reluctantly. He felt a warm pressure in his head and he looked over to where Hermione was. She smiled at him and a slow smile crept up on him.

"Come on lover boy," Raven giggled and tugged him away.

Harry had just finished explaining the concept of Secret Santa to the Weasleys and Ron groaned in horror.

"If you ask me," George said, "I think this could be a very pleasant way of getting the person you like to notice you and to get them to fall for you."

The girls heard this and they collapsed into a fit of giggles.

"Well, everyone," Dumbledore's voice boomed across the hall, "I hope you have eaten and drunken to your hearts content. And in so, I bid you all a good night. Don't forget to come get your schedules tomorrow in the morning."

At this, the prefects stood up and called out to the first years so that they would follow them out to the dormitories.

Hermione, Parvarti and Lavender got up together and walked away, leaving the boys behind.

"Hermi-" Harry cut Ron off.

"Just let her go," he told him. Ron sighed and muttered something under his breath, but resumed walking.

"I can't believe this," Lavender squealed. "Fred or George or whichever one it was is so totally right. Of course, if we get that one guy we like, we can totally make them fall for us."

Hermione smiled as she watched the two witches squeal, but inside, she couldn't help but feel slightly crushed. Who would ever like her? Bookworm Granger? Guys liked girls like Lavender or Parvarti or even Ginny who focused on their looks. Was it her fault that she wanted to have a good life and get the top grades so that all the doors would be open to her? Of course, she couldn't really blame them. It wasn't her fault that most boys' bodies and brains at this age was completely hormone driven. Of course they would want to have some piece of meat in front of them to drool over. Because that's all the girls were pretty much to them. Pieces of meat.

She sighed and took out her pajamas from her trunk.

"Hey Hermione, who would you want to get you as their person that they would have to give presents to?" Parvarti asked her.

"Oh, um," she looked around and thought furiously about the guys that she knew. Nathaniel would be a bad choice since they had gone out before and that hadn't really worked out very well for them. It hadn't helped that she had spent most of her time with Draco and Nathaniel had gotten extremely jealous over their friendship. But maybe now… she shook her head mentally and cast that thought aside. "I really don't care. I mean, there's no one I really pay attention to or that would like me."

Parvarti snorted lightly and Lavender rolled her eyes.

"Hermione," Lavender said, flopping down on her bed, "maybe if you opened your eyes, then you would see that you are your own beautiful. One that puts the other girls looks to shame. Maybe, if you let us do some light make up, we could make something of you yet."

Hermione smiled and shrugged.

"If you guys want to, of course," she told them. At this, the two girls gasped in amazement and then threw themselves into Project: Hermione. Hermione smiled briefly at them and then went back to her trunk to get her books, parchment homework and school bag out.

Somebody knocked on the door and Hermione looked up. She could tell already that the other two witches were simply going to ignore it and so she got up and went to open it.

"Hey Mione," Ginny stood there.

"Oh, hullo Ginny," Hermione said, smiling.

"Um, I think there's someone waiting for you outside the portrait." Ginny told her. "I couldn't see who was standing because they're just standing in the dark away from all the portraits so, nobody has a clue it is."

"Oh," she simply said and then quickly grabbed her cloak and headed out the door. She ran down the stairs and passed by the common room. She stifled a giggle at Ron's face.

"Hello," she whispered once she got out of the portrait and slowly walked towards the shadows. A hand shot out and pulled her in even further. She gasped and then she felt herself get pressed tightly to the other person.

They stood there for awhile and she didn't move much.

"Come with me," he whispered and Hermione relaxed mentally when she recognized Draco's voice. He slinked his arm around her waist and she leaned on him slightly. They walked up the stairs, making sure that no one would catch them and soon they were in front of the room of requirement. Draco thought to himself _we need somewhere to be alone_. A door appeared and Hermione tugged on Draco's robe. He opened his eyes and they walked in. inside was a beautiful room with plush beanbags, couches and loveseats.

"Really Draco?" Hermione giggled at the sight of the loveseats.

"I said we wanted to be comfortable," he muttered, embarrassed that the room had taken his request a little further than he expected.

"I'm very flattered," she teased and sat down on one of the bean bags.

"You wish," he laughed and pushed her off.

"Hey!" she exclaimed and rolled back up. She tackled him down and a mattress came out of nowhere and broke their fall. Draco then proceeded to tickle her mercilessly. Finally, after two minutes, Draco let her go and got up.

"I miss this," she said.

Draco rolled his eyes and looked at her.

"You miss sneaking around your friends' backs just so you could hang out with me?" he snorted. "And breaking curfew just so we could get some time to get away from everyone else?"

Hermione looked at him, gasping as if she were insulted and hit him lightly on his arm.

"Draco Malfoy, are you questioning my statement?" she asked, feigning hurt.

"Why Miss Granger, I do believe I am," he smirked. Hermione grabbed a pillow off of one of the couches and threw it at him. Draco had been looking around and didn't see it coming at him until it hit him. The next thing he knew, pillows everywhere were flying towards him.

"AHH!" he screamed and jumped off the bed. Hermione laughed as she watched him run around. He then ran right into her and all the pillows plummeted down towards them.

"Draco!" she screamed in surprise and tried to move before the pillows fell, but Draco had her pinned down. Finally, after the dust settled, a huge portion of the pillows flew up in the air in an explosion. Draco's hand was in the air, wand in hand.

He got up and helped Hermione up. They both couldn't stop smiling and walked to the couches sitting next to each other.

"I missed you, you know," he said. "It frustrated me, not being able to talk to you. And you know, by the way, that punch really hurt my nose. I think you almost broke it."

"Well, you had to be brought down a notch," Hermione laughed. "I didn't realize how egotistical and heinous you were going to become without me reminding you that you aren't all that."

Draco rolled his eyes and pushed her a little.

"We still can't really be friends, can we?" she suddenly asked, her voice dropping.

"No, not quite yet," Draco told her, grabbing her hand. "But it's more for your safety than anything else. Imagine all the hate mail that witches and wizards everywhere would send you. All the glares that you would get from everyone in here. So no, not when you are Hermione Granger. But perhaps, maybe by the end of this year?"

"Yes, merlin's pants, of course. Because then, everyone will know I'm a pureblood, not a muggle born witch." she grinned mischievously. Draco laughed and leaned back on the couch.

"Why didn't you tell me that Raven and Autumn were transferring here to Hogwarts?" she asked.

"Merlin, woman, you switch topics so bloody fast. How do you expect me to follow you?" he asked. At this, Hermione burst out laughing and couldn't stop for two minutes. "Anyways," Draco continued, "last time I had checked, nothing had been official." he looked up at the time and sighed. "Well, we better go. Wouldn't want to see goody good Granger get in trouble for breaking curfew."

At this, Hermione stuck out her tongue childishly and Draco smirked. He stood up and pulled her up along with him. They quietly made their way to the Gryffindor tower, but made sure to avoid as many portraits as they could.

"Bloody hell, this is becoming more difficult than necessary," Hermione muttered as they stood in the shadows.

"Yeah, well that's what you get when you're friends with the notorious Slytherin prince," Draco snickered.

"Well, I'm glad that we're friends again," she said quietly.

"Me too," Draco reassured her and hugged her tightly before letting her go back to her dormitory. "See you tomorrow," was the last thing she heard as the portrait closed.

Everyone was already asleep and so Hermione walked back to her room as silently as she could in the dark.

The next morning, as everyone stumbled around, getting ready for classes, Ron shuffled over to the bathrooms to wash his face. What had happened on the train kept playing over and over in his mind. Malfoy, tickling his Hermione and pinning her to a corner as if he had any right to be near her. How Hermione could even stand that slimy git's touch was beyond him. Ron shook his head and scowled at his reflection before heading out where Harry and Hermione would be waiting so they could go eat breakfast.

Harry realized that Ron wasn't exactly himself as he walked down the stairs and stared at him.

"Hey Ron, you okay?" he asked him.

"Peachy," he muttered and walked past them. Harry looked at Hermione and she shrugged. With that they followed after Ron and went to the Great Hall.

As they sat there waiting for their schedules, Hermione was jabbering away with one of the sixth year Gryffindor about whether or not she would be ready for the O.W.L.s. Ron noticed that her eyes would flicker to the Slytherin table and then a light pink tinge would travel across her face and she would have to maintain her composure so nobody would notice her smiles.

Finally he got sick of seeing her pretend to cough so no one would see her laugh and turned around to look at the Slytherin table to see what she kept laughing at. When Draco's eyes met Ron's, they became a steely grey and all the warmth drained out of them. Ron simply scowled at him and turned to look at Hermione. She had stopped talking once the Gryffindor had left and was merely looking around the hall.

"If you're done flirting with that piece of scum," he jabbed his thumb behind him in Draco's general direction, "here comes professor McGonagall with our schedules."

Hermione glared at him and then turned around to get her classes. She looked over the paper and nodded before standing up.

"I'll see you later Harry," she said. As she left, she threw a final glare at Ron before leaving.

When she was gone, Harry finally smacked Ron over the head.

"Ow," Ron muttered. "What was that for?"

"You git Ron. Do you want Hermione to hate us?" Harry asked, exasperated. "Remember that she and Malfoy have been friends for quite some time. If you keep insulting him in front of her, what makes you think that she'll stay with us? After all, I'm pretty sure if push comes to shove, she'll choose him over us."

"Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter, your schedules," they turned and saw Professor McGonagall standing behind them. They took the papers in her hand and she tapped them. Instantaneously, their schedules appeared and Harry was pleased to notice that he had the mornings off on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays.

"All right, we're in all classes together," Ron said.

"Of course we are," Harry laughed, "the only one who would choose so many classes is Hermione."

They got up and headed to the Gryffindor tower. When they were almost there, Ron groaned in dismay. Harry looked down, thinking that his friend had gotten stuck in one of the steps. When he saw that he didn't, he looked up at him.

"What?" he asked him.

"We have double potions today. And it's with the bloody Slytherins," they sat down once inside the dormitory and Ron kept talking. "You'd think that Dumbledore would quit lumping us together at any given chance. I think he just wants to see which House tries to kill the other first."

Harry laughed at this and nearly choked when he swallowed the wrong way.

"I still can't believe that Malfoy is really not fighting with us or bothering us," was all Harry could say, because that was honestly all he could think about.

"Who cares," Ron scowled, "that's just one Slytherin. We still have to deal with all the other ones. Plus, he's only being nice to us so he can get on Hermione's good side. They say that they're just friends, but I can tell that Malfoy wants more."

"Ron, you're starting to sound like a jealous, overbearingly, protective boyfriend," Harry said, "and no it's not cute."

"Well so sue me," he muttered lowly so Harry wouldn't hear him.

"I'm just going to go get my stuff and then we can head over to Herbology," Harry said and ran over to the boys' rooms. Two minutes later, he came back and they made their way down to Greenhouse three. As they walked over, two things kept intruding his mind. First was that he was wondering if Sirius was okay and whether or not he had received his last letter. Second, he couldn't help but think that Malfoy's truce was some awful trap that the Slytherins had set up to lower his guard.

_Really have to see if Malfoy is being 100% honest with us. But I also have to do it when Hermione isn't around or she's going to think that I'm questioning his word, _he sighed and then realized that everyone was handing in the homework that had been assigned to them over the summer. Harry dug around his bag, looking for it.

Hermione sighed and summoned with a flick of her wand. Harry grinned sheepishly and took it. She simply rolled her eyes, but Harry had caught her small smile. She turned and kept talking to Lavender.

Outside, coming out of the castle, a few 7th year Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors made their way to Greenhouse three to help the 4th years. Cedric was talking to his friend Liam, who then jabbed his elbow into his side and pointed at the girls once they got in. He scowled at him, but his friend was watching the girls. Cedric rolled his eyes and was going to say something about his friend's stupidity until one of the Gryffindor girls caught his eye. She had wavy hair that was slightly frizzy and yet bouncy nonetheless. She turned around, so that she was now facing him and he felt his jaw drop.

The gorgeous 4th year was none other than Hermione Granger. Professor Sprout paired them up and he found himself partnered with Hermione.

'Hello," she said when he was next to her, "I'm-"

"Hermione Granger," Cedric said. "I know you. We met briefly at the World Cup."

"Oh that's right," she laughed.

"Okay everyone," professor Sprout said. "In front of you are Bubotubers. They need squeezing and you will collect the pus-"

"What?!" said Seamus, sounding disgusted.

"The pus, Mr. Finnigan," she said sharply. "It's extremely valuable, so don't waste it. You will collect them in these bottles, oh and wear your dragon hide gloves. The pus can do funny things to the skin when undiluted."

With that, she let them begin and they started squeezing the pus out.

"So, how did you like the World Cup?" Cedric asked Hermione.

"Well, apart from the attack, it was quite enjoyable. Ginny and I walked around the campsite and hung out with some friends that we saw there. You?"

Cedric laughed, "Well, I hung out with the Weasley twins and Oliver Wood. Lost a fair amount of my money to them."

"Why?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Well, we made a bet and I really thought I could've won. Especially with the outrageous bet that the twins made, but," he shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh," Hermione said, everything making sense now and they both started laughing. Professor Sprout headed over to them and exclaimed, "Mr. Diggory, Miss Granger, stop this infernal racking and finish what you're doing."

Cedric winked at Hermione and looked up at his professor.

"We just need one more," he told her, and with that, Hermione squeezed the last Bubotuber and Cedric caught the pus. Professor Sprout merely threw her hands up in defeat and walked away.

She clapped her hands to get everyone's attention.

"On oct 28th, your reports on the uses of Bubotubers' pus will be due," she told them. And with that, they were dismissed. The 4th year Gryffindors headed towards Hagrid's hut and the Hufflepuffs headed back to the castle.

"So, I guess I'll see you around," Cedric said, waving bye to her. Hermione nodded in agreement and went over with her friends.

Ron and Harry both were waiting for her, Ron looking a bit frustrated and red in the face. She smiled at them and ignored Ron's annoyed look. They went over to their spot and waited for the Slytherins to come from whatever class they had been in.

"Who was your partner, Mione?" Harry asked her.

"Yeah, you two looked real chummy in there," Ron snapped. Hermione glared at him and answered Harry's question.

"Cedric. We met him and his father in the summer when we went to the Worlds Cup," Hermione said.

"Oh yeah, that's right," Harry nodded. "Well, I got this guy, Liam. He seemed pretty cool."

As Harry finished talking, all the Slytherins passed them, being led by Draco. When Draco passed Hermione, he flashed her a quick smile and she looked down, smiling. Ron glared at him and Harry simply pretended not to notice anything. Before Ron could explode at them, Hagrid came out.

"All right, I've partnered you lot up, Slytherins and Gryffindors. I don't wanna hear no complain or nothing," he said. "Bulstrode, Potter. Weasley, Zabini. Crabbe, Patil. Goyle, Thomas. Parkinson, Finnigan. Greengrass, Longbottom. Malfoy, Granger," he continued down the list. Draco headed over to Hermione, Ron went over to Blaise and Harry sat next to Millicent. Draco began talking lowly to Hermione, occasionally making her smother a laugh so no one would notice.

"You'd think he's in love with her," Ron said, revolted at the thought. Blaise glared at him.

"You know nothing," he hissed at Ron. "You've never seen what they went through. It hurt him to know that he couldn't talk to her anymore," he muttered something that Ron didn't catch.

"What?" Ron asked.

"Nothing," Blaise snapped. "Just shut up and don't talk about what you don't know."

Ron just gaped at him, his mouth opening and closing, making him look like a fish. He then scowled and resumed watching Malfoy and Hermione. Then he felt a punch on his shoulder.

"Bloody hell, what was that for?" he asked.

"We're supposed to be feeding these stupid, useless things, and you're just standing there like an idiot," Blaise growled. Ron glared at him and picked up an ant egg and threw it at the…

_What did Hagrid say these were called? _Ron thought. Suddenly about 5 people started screaming.

"Ergh, Hagrid, the end just exploded," Lavender screamed.

"Oh, well, what d'ya think they call 'em Blast ended Skrewts for? It ain't for nothing," Hagrid told her. "Anyways, some of 'em got a sorta sucker thing to try and suck your blood. I reckon those are the females. I guess the males are the ones with stingers."

By the time the lesson ended, every student went running off to their next class as fast as they could.

As Ron and Harry went towards Divination, Hermione waved goodbye and headed towards the library.

"This can't be good," Ron murmured. Harry turned in time to see four Slytherins following her. They were Draco, Blaise, Autumn and Raven.

* * *

A/N i might not be able to upload everyday, but i'll try to keep it close together. hope you liked this chapter. OK]8


	3. Chapter 3 A secret revealed

A/N sorry this took me so long to upload, but i was reall trying to fight with this chapter but in the end, i realized that i needed what i had written before to make it work. So i hope you like it more than i did.

disclaimer- not mine!

Chapter Three A Secret Revealed

Hermione walked around the library, looking for books that would help her with the essay that Professor Victor had assigned to them. She heard whispering in the next aisle and tried to ignore them. But when she pulled off one of the books, a pair of stormy grey blue eyes were watching her. She quickly went to the next aisle and was greeted by four very good friends. Autumn squeezed her tightly and Raven stepped forward.

"I missed you cuz," she said as Hermione hugged her.

"Oh, Merlin, I've missed all of you guys," she whispered. "Professor Dumbledore thinks I should reveal who I am, now that I have my whole support group backing me up." She looked at Draco as she said.

"I think that's one of the best ideas that old man has ever had," Draco said, smiling.

"My dad fully expects your mother to give us the same privileges that she has given the Malfoy's when it comes to you visiting," Blaise told Hermione. "Especially if you're deciding on letting everyone know."

"Of course," Hermione agreed. "After Christmas. Perhaps during the New Years Eve party. I'll tell him to reveal who I really am, Cassiopia Amelia Pucey. Sister of Adrian Pucey Daughter to Nicholas Pucey and Heather Pucey nee Granger."

"I feel like I'm at some chick's coronation," Raven muttered.

Hermione burst out laughing and quickly covered her mouth so that the librarian wouldn't hear her.

"Raven, you're so funny," Hermione told her. Then she sobered up quickly and looked down. "I just wonder how they'll react."

They all got quiet, knowing exactly who she was talking about.

Draco grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

"You'll have us," he said solemnly. "And don't forget that Longbottom, Lovegood, the Patil twins and the Turpin twins know. Anyways, you told the Weasley twins also, so that's four Gryffindors, four Ravenclaws and four Slytherins. So you won't be alone, no matter what those two prats say."

Hermione smiled softly at them and then glared half-heartedly at Draco.

"All right, all right, I won't call them names. Yeesh, woman," Draco said, putting his hands up in defeat. Hermione smiled at him and Draco hugged her. He kissed the top of her head and whispered, "Now go tell Dumbledore. I don't feel like waiting for you to decide when it's the right time."

Hermione hugged them all one last time and grabbed her things, quickly strolling out of the library. She made her way down to the Headmaster's office and stopped in front of the gargoyle.

"Damn, I forgot he has a password to his office," she muttered angrily. "Um, is Bertie Bott Beans? No, okay then. How about Acid Pops? Lemon drops?"

At the last one, the gargoyle moved to the side.

"Really? Lemon drops? I was just kidding," she said as she walked in. "Professor?" she called out as she opened the door.

"Ah. Yes," his voice came from above and she looked up to see him coming down the stairs. "Miss Pucey, how can I be of service to you?"

"Um, well, you see, I've decided that," she took in a deep breath to regain her courage, "I've decided that now's the time to let everyone know who I really am. With the threat of You Know Who, some unity between purebloods and the rest of the wizarding world is the way to go."

"Of course, Miss Pucey. That is, if this is your decision alone," he looked at her inquisitively. Hermione nodded eagerly.

"Yes professor. Thank you so much. Could you perhaps announce it during the New Year's Eve party? I think that would be the most opportune moment. Fresh start and everything," she gushed out.

"I agree. So it is decided then. New Year's," he smiled warmly at her.

She smiled and said thank you a few more times and stumbled out his office. She quickly went to the Gryffindor tower. She dropped off her bag and headed down for lunch. She spotted the Patil twins and waved at them, but because she wasn't looking, she ran into someone else.

"Ahh," she screamed as she fell down.

"I'm so sorry," she heard a male's voice. She looked up and saw Cedric. "Oh, Hermione," he held out his hand and she accepted it, looking away so he wouldn't see her faint blush. "Really sorry about that," he laughed and ruffled his hair nervously.

"Oh, it's okay, really," she told him, fixing her blouse.

"Seems like we're starting to run into each other now, huh," he said. She laughed.

"Literally," she told him.

He laughed and looked behind him.

"Oh, hey, by the way, watch out down there. There's a huge crowd and there's literally no one going into the hall," he warned her.

"Okay, thanks. Bye," she said and headed down. Just as he had said, there were students clamoring and trying to look at something posted on the wall.

"Oi, Mione," Ron called out. She looked and saw Harry and Ron towards the front of the group. She pushed her way through and finally saw what it was that had caught everyone's attention.

**Triwizard Tournament**

**The delegations from Beauxbatons**

**And Durmstrang will arrive at 6 o'clock**

**On Friday, the 30th of October.**

**Lessons will end half an hour early**.

"Excellent," Harry exclaimed. "Snape won't have time to poison all of us. Potions is our last class on Friday." he looked at Hermione and Ron, beaming, only to see them with confused looks on their faces. His smile slid off slowly and he looked away, shuffling his feet and said, "Oh, um, I heard from Susan. He told the class that."

He turned around and they continued reading the announcement.

**Students will return their bags**

**And books to their dormitories**

**And assemble in front of the castle**

**To greet our guests before the**

**Welcome Feast.**

"Only a week away," Ernie McMillion of Hufflepuffs said.

"Wonder if Cedric knows?" Bert Foster, also from Hufflepuffs, thought out loud.

"Let's go tell him," Ernie exclaimed and they ran off.

"Huh?" Ron looked confused, not knowing who they were talking about.

"Cedric Diggory? Remember, he's my partner in Herbology," Hermione said while the Trio pushed their way to the Great Hall.

"Oh, that idiot Hogwarts champion?" asked Ron, pushing a few more people out of his way.

"He's not an idiot," Hermione scowled. "You just don't like him because he beat Gryffindor last year in the Quidditch game. Anyways, he's a really good student and a prefect."

"You only like him cause he's handsome," Ron replied scathingly.

"Excuse me?" Hermione looked at him, shocked.

"You heard me," Ron snapped back. Hermione's shock quickly turned to anger and she quickly walked away, choosing instead to sit with Neville and the girls. Harry groaned and kept walking.

"Trouble in paradise Weaslbee?" Draco drawled, grinning. Ron pulled his fist back, but stopped as a wand was pointed at his neck.

"Watch yourself," Blaise whispered. They then kept walking to the Slytherin table, leaving Ron standing there.

"Mr. Longbottom, please do not allow the Durmstrang students know that you cannot perform a simple switching spell," Professor McGonagall cried out after a disastrous lesson the next day. Neville had somehow managed to swap his ears with the cactus's arms. The bell rang and the rest of the students left, leaving him to be attended by their transfiguration teacher.

"Excellent," Ron said happily. "We have Defense Against the Dark Arts next. Fred and George already had him and they told me he was bloody brilliant."

Harry dug around in his bag and pulled out his somewhat crumpled schedule and looked at it.

"Yeah, except we've got it with the damn Slytherins again," Harry groaned. Hermione pursed her lips and continued walking as if she couldn't hear what they were saying.

They arrived to class and sat at the front row. Almost immediately after, Moody walked in. Everyone stared silently at him. Now that they were closer, they noticed other things that they hadn't seen when he had arrived in the Great Hall. His face was marked in scars and his nose was missing a chunk, giving him a rather frightening appearance.

"I've gotten a letter from Professor Lupin, informing me that you have studied Boggarts, Red Caps, Hinkypunks, grindylows, kappas and werewolves. Correct?" he growled softly, looking around.

A murmur of agreements swept around the classroom.

"But you are all _**very**_ behind in dealing with curses. So I'm here to bring you up to scratch with what every witch and wizard should know. Now, I've only got one year to teach you lot what you need to know."

"Wait, why aren't you staying?" Seamus asked him.

"Special favor for Dumbledore. One year of teaching and then back to my quiet retirement," he barked out a laugh and everyone looked at each other confused. "So, do any of you know any of the three Unforgivable Curses?" He looked around. "Weasley!"

Ron jumped slightly in his chair.

"Oh, um, there's this one my dad told me. The um, Imperious Curse," he stuttered.

"Ah yes. Your father would know that one. Gave the Ministry of Magic some trouble a few years back," he growled softly. "People were saying that Voldemort," the class, minus Harry, flinched, "had put them under the Imperious Curse. The question is, how do you sort out the liars from those telling the truth?"

Everyone was quiet and he took out a spider from a jar one his desk. Ron scooted as far away as he could from the table.

"Engorgio," the spider swelled up and Ron whimpered. "Imperio." And with that word, the spider stopped moving. It got up on two feet and did a poor excuse of a tap dance. As everyone started laughing, Professor Moody caused the spider to jump on people.

"Think that's funny ay?" ha said as the class laughed while some who were having the spider land on them freaked out. "What if I made it jump out the window, drown itself in the lake and then come back up and throw itself down one of your throats?"

The laughter died away and they all looked slightly disturbed. Moody brought the spider back to his desk. He muttered some spells and put it back in the jar.

"Anyone else?"

Much to everyone's surprise, Neville put his hand up. He looked around, surprised himself at his own actions.

"Longbottom, correct?" he asked and Neville nodded. "All right then, what do you have?"

"The, the Cruciatus Curse," he stuttered out.

"Ah yes, Voldemort's favorite form of torture. Come here," he told him. Neville reluctantly made his way up to the desk. Moody took out a second spider from his jar and also enlarged it as it attempted to get away. "Crucio."

Draco watched in horror as the spider rolled up in agony. If it had a voice, he was sure it would be shrieking in pain. He looked over at Hermione and saw to his surprise that her face was ashen.

"Stop it," she finally screamed. "Stop it, stop it." she stood up and her chair fell down. "Can't you see it's bothering him?"

Draco was watching Hermione very closely. Even though she had stopped it for Neville, Draco had noticed that her blood had drained from her face, her hands had rolled up and he felt her anxiety wash over him.

"Would you like to tell us the last unforgivable curse, Miss Granger?" he asked, walking to her desk. He was carrying with him the last spider and Hermione quickly sat down, refusing to answer.

_Oh bloody hell, leave her alone, _Draco thought angrily, tightening his hand around the edge of his desk.

"Well?"

Hermione shook her head and looked away.

"No? Fine," he set the spider on her table. "Avada Kedavera."

A green light flashed in front of her face and the spider lay dead on her table, no mark on it to show that it had died.

Draco stared at it, his mind completely blank, in shock. He looked up at Hermione who had her face turned away and her eyes closed.

"The killing curse," Moody said, "Unblockable. Only one person has survived it." Both his eyes fixed on Harry.

_Of course, _Draco thought, _The boy who won't bloody die, St. Potter._

The bell rang and everyone put their things away and left.

"That was bloody brilliant," Ron said once they stepped out. "Did you see that spider when Moody killed it? That green flash and, oh man-"

"My parents died like that," Harry said softly. Ron looked over at him.

"Dude, I'm so sorry," he muttered, embarrassed at his enthusiasm. "But, did you see Neville's face? I thought-" Hermione elbowed him and pointed to where Neville was standing.

"Neville," she said, walking to him. "Are you okay?"

He looked at them in surprise and nodded.

"Oh yeah," he said quickly. "That was an interesting dinner. I wonder what's for lesson," he looked around nervously. Not even realizing how he was tripping on his words.

"Neville-"

"Longbottom," Moody's voice caught their attention and they saw him coming down the stairs. "Are you okay? Come with me." he walked away and Neville looked at them, scared, before following behind.

They watched him walk away and then went down to potions.

All the way down, Hermione had been thinking to herself. With having made an official date for when Dumbledore would announce her actual name and parentage, thoughts that she would rather not think of at the moment had been slowly creeping up on her. Now, she was silently thinking over all her fears.

"Hey, you guys," she finally said as she sat down.

"What's up?" Harry asked.

"What if someone kept an important secret from you and finally mentioned it after years of being friends with you? How would you feel, cause I don't know," she said quickly.

"Well, I'd be pretty pissed off," Ron said. "I mean, you aren't supposed to keep secrets from friends."

Harry thought about it a bit before answering.

"Ron has a point, but maybe the person had a reason for keeping their secret," he finally said. "I guess if it was meant to protect me, then how can I be mad at them for wanting to keep me safe."

"Yeah, but still," Ron said, "being friends eventually, you guys have to trust each other enough to be able to reveal anything to them. Anyways, I'd probably stop speaking to them."

"I guess I would take time to consider that," Harry told Ron, "but I don't want to think that I would push someone away just for one small thing."

Hermione was sitting there, shocked by the end of their talk. Professor Snape was telling them what potion they had to make and it's properties, but Hermione couldn't pay attention. Fear started to grip her heart.

_What if they won't be here to support me anymore. Oh Merlin, they're never going to accept that I'm related to the Puceys._

The world started dimming and soon faded to black.

A small thud was heard in the back and everyone turned around. Professor Snape had stopped writing the ingredients down and slowly looked back. Draco saw Harry and Ron stand their faces in shock.

"Hermione!" they yelled.

There, lying on the ground in a crumpled heap, was Hermione Granger.

"Zabini, Malfoy, take her to the Hospital Wing," Snape instructed them. Harry and Ron looked up in surprise. "You two are not allowed to leave my class with the marks you have."

As he spoke, Blaise and Draco had picked Hermione up and walked out of the class. Blaise looked at her in worry.

"Draco, I don't like the way she feels," Blaise whispered. Draco checked her arms and legs.

"It doesn't look like Heather is beating her anymore. Do you think she's found some other way to hurt her?" he asked Blaise. He simply shrugged his shoulders as they walked into the Hospital Wing. They set her on a bed and Draco went to go get Madam Pomfrey.

"Madam Pomfrey," Draco walked into her office, startling the nurse, "Hermione Granger fainted during potions and Professor Snape asked us to bring her here."

With that, she quickly got up and followed him to where she was.

Blaise looked down at her, checking her forehead. Madam Pomfrey saw the concern in the young boy's eyes and recalled that the Headmaster had told them that they were cousins.

"Don't worry Mr. Zabini, she'll be fine," she said soothingly. She checked Hermione's pupils, then her temperature.

"I'll give her a potion to revive her, but she has to stay overnight since she hs a fever that has been running unchecked. Mr. Malfoy, you can bring back her homework later but you two need to get back to your class," she said.

Both of the boys left, speaking lowly and Madam Pomfrey sighed.

Ron watched as Draco and Blaise came back in, looking a little tense. They also looked a little worried which caused his heart to skip.

_What if something really bad happened to her? _he wondered dismally. As the class was working on the potion, Snape made his way over to Malfoy. He leaned over a little as Malfoy whispered something in his ear. He went to his desk and brought back a piece of paper, handing it over to Malfoy as he spoke.

"Hey Harry, what do you think happened to Hermione?" Ron asked him.

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "One second everything was fine and then the next thing I know, she just passed out. Don't worry, she'll be fine."

Ron nodded and continued with his potion.

"Everyone should be done with their antidotes," Snape called out, "turn it in and on Friday I shall test certain people's antidotes. Class dismissed." He stood behind his desk, watching as they got up.

Everyone walked out, handing a vial to Professor Snape with a sample of their antidote.

Draco headed to Arithmancy and sat down. Here, he would usually sit next to Hermione, but she wasn't here. He handed in his homework and explained to the professor why she wasn't in class. He took notes and paid extra attention to the lecture in case Hermione would need help. When he was in history of Magic, he had to force himself to pay attention because he knew Hermione would kill him if she knew that he had slept through class rather than pay attention.

_Hermione better be damn grateful for all of this, _Draco thought wearily as he trudged up the stairs to the Hospital Wing,

"I never thought I would see you this disheveled," Hermione giggled as he got to her bed.

"You know," Draco dropped down on the chair next to her bed, "I lost 50 minutes of sleep tonight in order to take some damn notes for you in History of Magic."

Hermione smiled and ran a hand through his hair and left it on his cheek.

"You're a sweetheart, you know?" she told him.

"Count yourself lucky that we grew up together and I actually enjoy your company," Draco laughed. "I would've never done this for any other person but you." Hermione laughed and started getting off the bed. "What are you doing?" he asked alarmed.

"Oh. I'm tired of sitting," Hermione sighed. "It's not like I had some nasty fall."

"No," Draco agreed, "but Madam Pomfrey said you had a fever and you'll be a little weak."

"The come and help me," she said, beckoning him over to her side. He sat next to her and put his arm around her waist to steady her as she stood.

They walked around a little until Draco saw that she was getting tired. He lad her back to the bed and made her lie down.

"What has Heather done to you?" he whispered as she drifted off to sleep.

"Hopefully nothing permanent," she sighed. Draco watched her fall asleep and then just sat there.

Some twenty minutes later, he heard Ron and Harry coming up the stairs.

_Guess their class is over, _he thought and looked up at the clock. It read 7 o'clock. _yup. _He looked back down at Hermione and braced himself for an argument.

Hermione lay there sleeping peacefully, her hair splayed out on her pillow. He reluctantly looked up when Ron and Harry came in.

"What are you doing here Malfoy?" Harry sighed.

"I was just bringing her, her homework and keeping her company," he replied.

"Why did you decide that you were going to act civilized towards us this year?" Harry couldn't help but asking.

"It's the reason that we got into a fight in our second year," he said softly. "I was always goading you guys and being so rude, it was killing her inside. She was just sick of how I treated people, so I promised her that I would change. That I would be the person she met 10 years ago."

"I told you he was just trying to get on Hermione's good side," Ron whispered angrily to Harry.

"I'm already on her good side," Draco said, lifting his chin higher. "That's more than you can say. But, no, that's not why I'm being nice to you two," he said, waving Ron's comment away. "I don't mind being nice to Harry. You on the other hand, you're another story." At this, Ron drew his wand and held it to Draco's neck.

"Why I ought to,"

A small groan caught their attention and all three wizards turned to see Hermione getting up. She rubbed her eyes and slowly sat up. She stared at Ron, confused, and followed his wand.

"Ron," her voice wavered slightly, "put down your wand, please." He glared at Draco and stowed away his wand.

"I'll see you later," Draco whispered to Hermione, got out of the chair and left.

Hermione watched Draco leave and sighed inwardly when the door closed.

"Look, you guys should go eat dinner. I'm just going to work on my homework anyways," she told them wearily. They both left, only after making sure that she was comfortable.

Some ten minutes later, Blaise came in to the wing. He walked over to her and when he hugged her, she started crying.

"They're going to hate me," she sobbed out. He rubbed her back and let her cry.

"Remember what Draco said," he reminded her. "You have Longbottom, the Patil and Weasley twins, even the Turpin twins, or at least Lisa. I don't remember if Nathaniel knows."

"He doesn't," she said. "I didn't really want to tell him and I asked his sister to please not mention anything about it."

"Oh, well, where was I? Oh right, there's Lovegood and don't forget that through it all, you have us for sure. So don't worry about them, please," he pleaded. She sighed and looked down at her homework.

"So tell me about Raven," she finally said. "I remember that you're dad didn't really want her to associate with me."

"Oh don't even get me started on that girl," Blaise laughed. "She's so spontaneous. One minute she's the quietest most withdrawn girl you've ever met, then the next thing you know, she's running around, laughing and all," he wiggled his fingers in the air, "bubbly." He shuddered a bit and Hermione laughed.

"She studies a lot," he continued. "I was afraid that Dumbledore was going to sort them and then that she would be put in Ravenclaw. Her favorite color is turquoise. If you pay attention to her nails, they're usually painted turquoise with magenta swirls. She's a year younger than me. Also my half sister. After my mum ran out on us, he got remarried to some other woman. I think she might have been related to the Greengrass, or possibly the Parkinsons, I'm not sure. But anyways, her name's Cassiopeia."

"Interesting name," Hermione remarked.

"Yeah, well Raven's one helluva Quidditch player. She's one of the best people that you could ever know. So, that's my sis for ya," he smirked a little.

"You're so cheesy," Hermione laughed. "All proud of your sister and whatnot." She laughed at him and Blaise threw a pillow at her.

Autumn was walking around, trying to get to the astronomy tower for her Astrology class and accidentally ran into someone.

"Sorry," the person muttered. Autumn just smiled and held out her hand.

"No worries. I'm Autumn by the way. You are?"

"Ginny, Ginny Weasley," she muttered back, taking her hand and standing up.

"Well Ginny Weasley, are you headed to Astrology?" she asked her. Ginny slowly nodded her head.

"Hey, you're Malfoy's sister, aren't you?" she asked, as it dawned on her as to who it was that she was talking to.

"Yeah, so?" Autumn asked.

"Well, aren't you going to tell me off for running into you and ruining your clothes?" she sneered at her.

Autumn's smile slid off her face and she glared at the Weasley girl.

"You don't have to be so rude," she snapped and turned around, her hair whipping Ginny's face slightly. Autumn kept on walking until Ginny caught up with her.

"Look. I'm sorry," she said, "I shouldn't have said that to you or have been so mean back there. I mean, we don't even really know each other. It's just some stupid prejudice."

Autumn turned around and looked at her suspiciously.

"It's just cause Malfoy's such a prick to us and I simply assumed that you would be just like him," Ginny told her.

"Of course not," Autumn laughed. "My brother is actually really sweet. He just acts like that because his "friends" are around. He's always made sure that Hermione got through everything she's gone through." she sighed and muttered to herself, "I wish we were all back together again."

"Wait," Ginny said, "I didn't quite catch that last part."

"I'll tell you later," Autumn said and walked into the class, making her way over to a dark haired girl. The girl turned around and glared at Ginny.

Ginny stared back in shock, unable to pull herself away until the girl looked away.

_What was that?! _She thought, bewildered. There had been so many emotions showing in her eyes, and she could've sworn that one of them was jealousy. _No, my mind must have been playing tricks on me._

Then her mind wandered back to what Autumn had said about Hermione and Draco.

_I wonder what Hermione's been hiding from us._


	4. Chapter 4 Butterflies and Makeovers

**Disclaimer- obviously not mine or it wouldn't be here. :)**

**A/N: Yes I'm finally back. My computer decided to cut me off, but here's the long awaited chapter 4. :D**

Chapter Four- Butterflies and makeovers

All the third year Slytherin and Gryffindors walked down from the tower once class was over. Ginny started to walk to the Gryffindor tower, but then someone yanked her down and dragged her away, covering her mouth so she wouldn't be able to scream.

"Shut up," a girl whispered harshly. The girl had her face covered with a hood so Ginny couldn't see who she was. She tried to tug away from her when she saw they were going towards the Slytherin dungeons.

"Ginny, you've got to calm down," she heard another girl say and recognized Autumn's voice. She relaxed a little, but was still prepared to run just in case she got in a bad situation. They soon arrived into an old room that no one used anymore and the girl let go of Ginny and moved towards a dark corner.

"So, you want to know Hermione and Draco's story, right?" Autumn asked.

Ginny nodded.

"Well, first of all, Hermione isn't an only child, she has an older brother. Her mum didn't let her stay with her dad when they separated and then she went off and married a muggle so it would seem like Hermione was simply normal and not a witch. But, Hermione is in fact Cassiopia Amelia Pucey."

Ginny stared, her jaw hanging open in surprise.

"And I am her cousin, Raven Zabini," the other girl finally revealed herself. "Don't think that you're the only one who knows about Hermione's past. Neville, Luna, Lisa, your twin brothers and the Patils also know."

"Anyways," Autumn drawled "Draco has been through a lot with Hermione. At age eight, her mum started abusing her, so Draco convinced our parents to let Hermione come and visit and stay whenever she wanted to."

"Is that why he's so important to her?" Ginny asked. Autumn nodded and smiled sadly.

"I've never seen anyone more crushed than he was last year. During the summer," she shuddered, "that was awful. When they had ended their friendship, I don't even remember how long he had spent in his room, just throwing things. But anyways, whatever happens between the Golden Trio, Draco's going to make sure that Hermione gets over their reactions."

"So why exactly are you telling me all of this?" Ginny asked.

"Because I thought that, you know, maybe you could help Hermione also. If she sees that someone who doesn't 'know' about her past, accepts who she really is, she'll think that she has a chance yet to retain her friendships," Autumn confessed. "But this means that you can't let her know that you know."

"So if you're telling me this now, then that means that you guys have a date set," Ginny said.

"Yeah, we do," Raven said. "During the New Years Eve party. At 12.01, the Headmaster is going to announce it. We're so excited. Draco just can't wait," she grinned, "that way we can finally be as we once were. Now, we should get going back to our houses. Remember, don't tell anyone you know and let her think that you're looking over prejudices."

"Oh, and one more thing," Ginny looked over at Autumn, "Our families are in his inner circle under the orders of the Ministry of Magic. They're in a division of Unspeakables. The whole office had to join. That way, we can bring the Death Eaters down from the inside, but still, be careful when you talk to us. Wouldn't want to see you get hurt. Bye," she smiled and waved at her. Raven got up and they left Ginny there.

_What the hell, _Ginny thought to herself. _Poor Hermione. I can't believe she's never said anything about it. _She then got up and headed back to the Gryffindor tower with the only intention to sleep.

The week went by fairly quick. Hermione had made a quick recovery and soon rejoined the classes. Autumn kept a close eye on Ginny to make sure that she wouldn't act any differently towards Hermione. She did notice though, that Cedric had quickly become friends with Hermione and she could see him checking her out now at this moment.

_Oh come on, now he's falling for her? _she thought angrily. Draco, who was eating his toast, quickly spit it out. Autumn flinched a bit, hoping that the pieces wouldn't fall on her robes.

_Don't even say that, _she heard his angry voice in her head. _Damn it, why did it have to be this year that Hermione has guys drooling over her left and right?_

_Why big brother, are you jealous or something? _Autumn asked.

_Of course not, _he snapped, _I just want time to hang out with my best friend._

All at once, he retreated from the conversation and Autumn guessed that he was probably talking to Hermione. One of the pros to them having those freaky powers of theirs was that Hermione and Draco could talk to each other whenever they wanted to.

_Wish I had those_, Autumn sighed.

Hermione stood up from the table and Ron looked up at her.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"To the library Ronald, where else would I go," Hermione muttered, still angry at him.

"Come on Mione, it's Friday, take the day off. Please?" he pleaded. She shook her head and left them there. As she passed by the Slytherins she sent Draco a thought.

_You ready?_

Draco smiled and looked at Blaise.

"Well, I see you lot later," he said and got up.

A few minutes later, Hermione heard footsteps behind her. She stopped walking and then somebody's arms went around her waist.

"Hey," Draco's voice was at her ear and Hermione shivered unintentionally as he softly nuzzled her neck.

"Let's go," she said, her stomach in knots. What was going on right now?

Draco let her go and they started walking to the room of requirement. When they arrived, they stood there until a door appeared. Draco held out his hand and Hermione took it. They looked at each other and Draco smiled warmly at her. She squeezed his hand and they both stepped through the door.

"Blaise told me what you said," he said and looked down at her. Her eyes were downcast and she looked hurt. Draco pulled her to him and he hugged her tightly. "It'll be okay. Don't worry about them. You have three months to try and change their opinions," he steered them to the bed and they sat down, backs on the wall. "They're dolts if they decide not to be friends with you after everything you've done for them."

She curled up at his side and silently begin to cry.

"I'm so sorry Draco," she choked out. "I just hope they get over the news quickly." She hiccupped and Draco kissed the top of her head. He started singing a song by an American band called the Plain White T's. Hermione fell asleep to the sound of him singing Hey There Delilah.

When Hermione's breathing evened out and Draco was sure that she was asleep, he smiled sadly, closed his eyes and let sleep wash over him.

Ron, Harry and Ginny sat around the fire.

"I hate it when she does this," Ron said. "She says she'll be in the library, but when we go there, she's not bloody there."

Both Harry and Ginny sighed. Ron had been ranting for what seemed like hours now, and they were both getting quite annoyed by him. As he opened his mouth again, Ginny whipped out her wand and pointed it at him.

"Silencio," she muttered. Ron's face went red and he started yelling. Well, he would've if it hadn't been for the spell on him. Harry couldn't help but laugh and Ginny grinned sheepishly.

Around four in the morning, Harry suddenly woke up. He heard something, but couldn't quite place it. He finally saw what it was. Hermione was silently walking around the common room, trying to wake Ginny so that they could go to the girls dormitory.

"So, where have you been?" Harry asked her, trying hard not to sound as if he were accusing her of anything.

Hermione jumped slightly and turned to look at him.

"Oh, hey Harry," she whispered. "I was, um, around," she said, smiling softly. Harry looked closer at her and noticed that her eyes were a bit red.

"Hermione, were you crying?" he asked her, worried. A look of fear and shock flit through her face, but it was gone before Harry could realize it was there.

"No," she said, pretending to be shocked. "Of course not. I was just sleeping and I just barely woke up. Can you help me Harry? I can't seem to get Ginny up."

"Yeah, sure," he said and got up. He never realized that Hermione had quietly avoided getting asked anymore questions as to where she had been. He picked Ginny up and Hermione led him to the stairs.

"Thanks Harry, I'll take it from here," she said and levitated Ginny up the stairs. She was careful to keep her face straight so Harry wouldn't see the effort she was using to take her up. When she put Ginny down on her bed, she headed to the bathroom to take a shower. The hot water unknotted her arm and back muscles, yet stung the wounds her mum had given her. She winced and got out, wrapping a towel around her and dried her hair. She then slipped into her pajamas and headed off to sleep.

Later that morning, she woke up a little later than usual.

"Oh man," she moaned and sat up. She quickly slipped on some pants and a shirt and ran down to the Great Hall.

"Morning Mione," Harry said, not even looking up.

"Hi," she said and grabbed some bread. "How are you guys?"

"Pretty good," Ginny said, sitting next to Hermione. "So, I was wondering, since it's a weekend and we have like, nothing to do, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out." She looked at Hermione, smiling.

"Um, yeah, sure," she said reluctantly. _Why do I have a bad feeling about this? _she thought to herself. "All right, cool then. Meet me in the hall before lunch," Ginny said and left happily.

"Who else thought that was really weird?" Hermione said. Harry raised his hand but kept on eating.

"Well," Harry said, "Ron and I are going to go practice a little Quidditch, since apparently, there's no Quidditch this year. You want to come?"

"No, thanks for the offer though," Hermione smiled and the two boys left to go play. She sighed and looked down at her plate. What was she supposed to do now that none of her friends were there with her?

"Hello Hermione," she heard Raven's cool voice next to her. She looked over and sure enough, the younger Zabini was sitting next to her. "Don't worry about reputations and whatever else it is you all worry about, there's almost no one in here."

Hermione looked around and realized that Raven was right.

"Wow, I must have slept in later than I thought," Hermione said nervously.

"Yeah," Raven smiled. She grabbed one of the goblets and it filled itself with pumpkin juice. "So Mione," she said after drinking the juice, "how's life been? Has Draco invited you over to his villa in Spain over the summer?" she looked up at the elder witch as she ate some toast.

"Oh yes," Hermione smiled.

"Are you blushing?" Raven asked, amused.

"What?" Hermione looked at her, startled. "Why- why would you ask that?" she asked her nervously.

"Oh no reason really," Raven smiled and dropped it. She loved how her cousin and her brother's best friend were completely oblivious to the fact that they were totally smitten by each other. "So, um, did you hear that Astoria is trying to take Draco from Pansy?"

"What?" Hermione choked on her pumpkin juice and Raven hit her back. She coughed and massaged her throat. "That's ridiculous, she would never. Right?" Raven smirked inwardly as she saw Hermione's confused and somewhat nervous look.

She just shrugged and Hermione looked around worriedly. Sure enough, Astoria was sitting next to Draco and they seemed to be discussing something very intently.

"Raven-" Hermione looked back and just as she was about to say anything, someone sat down next to her.

"Hey Hermione," the person said. She turned around and saw Nathaniel sitting next to her, a huge smile on his face.

"Oh, hello, Nathaniel. To what do I owe this pleasure?" she asked nicely. Raven rolled her eyes and looked at Nathaniel Turpin.

This kid was the bane of Draco's existence. Even if Hermione was no longer interested in Nathaniel anymore, Draco could never forgive the boy from stealing her away from him.

'Stealing precious moments of our childhood friendship,' was what Draco had accused Nathaniel of doing.

"So, I was wondering if you wanted to come hang out with my sister and me on the next Hogsmeade trip," he said.

"Oh," Hermione looked surprised. Raven rolled her eyes at the naivety from her cousin. How she didn't know that guys were smitten with her, she still didn't understand. "Well, I don't know if I'll be busy, but I'll check to see if maybe I can go with you," she said weakly.

"Well, excellent," Nathaniel said, smiling. "I guess I'll just wait for your answer." He got up and walked back to the Ravenclaw table.

"That was weird," Hermione said. "I've only talked to Nathaniel twice in these past four years." She looked at Raven and smiled. "So, how's your life?"

"It's life," she said nonchalantly. "Not much is happening. You're the most exciting thing that's happening to us right now," she laughed. Hermione blushed and bit her orange.

"Liar," she mumbled. Raven laughed at her obvious discomfort and started twirling her hair.

"So," Raven said, "is there anyone you know that I could start hanging out with? You know, who's worth getting to know?"

"Oh definitely," Hermione laughed. "If you're looking for the laugh of your life, hang out with the Weasley twins. Even though, I don't quite agree with what they do half the time, but they're still a lot of fun to hang out with. If you want someone who will talk to you about the more eccentric things in life, or you just want a new fresh point of view to the world, I totally recommend hanging out with Luna Lovegood. She's incredibly-" she struggled to find a word to describe Luna.

"Weird, individualistic, just simply fabulous, out of this world?" Raven offered.

"Sure," Hermione laughed. "Whatever works for you." Raven smiled and looked back. She sighed and stood up.

"Well, I have to go now. Autumn," she sneered slightly, "wants to explore around the castle." Hermione watched Raven walk away and wondered what was going on with the two younger girls. Usually they were inseparable and Raven loved hanging out with Autumn.

She sighed and saw that Raven had left a piece of paper on the table. She picked it up and read it. A smile graced her features and she quickly got up and quickly walked away.

"Did you leave it behind?" Blaise asked as soon as Raven got out of the Great Hall.

"No, you dumb ass," she said, "I just got out because I so want to hang out with Autumn." Raven rolled her eyes and kept on walking. Blaise shook his head and walked down to the dungeons.

Draco sat on one of the couches and waited for Hermione to come. A procession of knocks was at the door and soon it opened. Hermione waltzed in and sat down next to him.

"You got my note then?" he asked her. She nodded and Draco put his arm around her shoulder. "So, you ready for the end of the year? I can't wait until we can hang out in public again and we won't have to worry about putting you or our families in danger."

Hermione laughed and nudged him lightly.

"You keep mentioning that. Now more than ever since we have a date set," Hermione told him. Draco grinned and laughed a little, simply shrugging his shoulders.

"Can you blame me?" he said. "I have the smartest witch as my friend and then we don't have to sneak behind your friends' backs just to catch a few minutes together." Then he looked at her strangely. "Don't tell me you actually like sneaking around."

"Well, I have to admit," she smiled sheepishly at him, "I kind of enjoy the whole forbidden friendship inside the castle walls."

Draco burst out laughing and couldn't help it. Especially since she was blushing lightly. He hugged her tightly and held her to him.

"I can't believe good girl Granger just said that," he finally said. Hermione shrieked in mock rage and grabbed a pillow next to her. She hit him fully face and Draco looked at her, shocked. Her grin caught his attention and he finally decided that she looked way too pleased with herself. His shock had caused him to let her go, so she was standing away from him now. He stood up and quickly tackled her to the other couch before she could realize what was about to happen.

"Draco!" she shrieked in laughter as he mercilessly tickled her. He laughed as her desperate attempts to get away from him failed.

"Say uncle," he said. She shook her head and closed her mouth tightly. Draco resumed tickling her until finally she squealed uncle. He let her go and they sat up and Hermione fixed her clothes and her hair quickly.

"I have to go to the library now," she said. "I've been neglecting all my studies just so I could hang out with you. Let's meet later. Ginny intends to use this room to do atrocities to me, so don't come around here today after lunch."

They stood up and Hermione hugged him tightly before leaving.

That afternoon, Hermione stood outside the Great Hall nervously and saw that Ginny was flanked by Lavender and Parvarti.

"Oh hell," she muttered to herself.

"Hey Hermione," Ginny said cheerfully. "Come on, we're going to have so much fun." She beamed at her, along with Lavender and Parvarti.

_I highly doubt it, _she thought glumly. She reluctantly followed behind the cheerful girls and soon they arrived at the Room of Requirement just as Hermione had assumed.

"Close your eyes," Lavender said. Hermione sighed and did as told. Someone grabbed her elbow and steered her into the room. "Now, I'm going to magically cover your eyes so you can't see anything, but it won't mess us up. Here are some headphones so you can listen to this intriguing little doohickey."

Hermione held out her hand and Lavender put it in her hand. From what she could discern, this "doohickey" was most likely an mp3 of some sort. She sighed and put on the earphones. Whatever was going to happen, she would prefer to cut it out for as long as she could.

Lavender sat Hermione down and nodded at Ginny. The younger witch opened the curtains and behind stood a full vanity mirror with hair products, make-up and other assortments there.

"About time I got my hands on this girl," Lavender laughed. "I remember when I first saw her, I thought to myself, 'She is a makeover just waiting to happen.'" Parvarti laughed and agreed. "Well girls, lets get to work."

For the next two hours, the three witches worked on giving Hermione a new look. They gave her eyebrows more shape, going for the sexy, intellectual look, and had light green eye shadow with purple eyeliner on top and bottom. Ginny focused mainly on her hair, giving it more layers and putting products on her hair as she washed it. Parvarti filed her nails and painted them a light shade of magenta. All three girls had decided to put on the minimum amount of cover-up since Hermione had one of the best complexions ever. Lavender put on mascara on her eyes and lip gloss that made her lips look a little fuller.

"She's going to hate me for this," Ginny giggled when they saw her hair. It was a little darker with highlights and lowlights and it definitely had more volume and it was thinned out so it wouldn't get frizzy anymore.

"Wow," Lavender breathed. Hermione looked as if she capture a guy's heart with one shy smile. Her lack of not realizing how pretty she could be, had made Hermione much more of an authentic beauty than anyone else that Lavender had known. Now, they had played up her features and she looked breathtaking.

"Absolutely heartbreaking," Parvarti said. The other two witches nodded and Lavender lifted the spell off of Hermione so she could see again.

"You guys done?" she asked them, taking out her earphones.

"Yup," Ginny smiled. "Turn around."

Hermione did and she almost fainted at the sight before her. Luckily for her, the others had been expecting it and steadied her back up.

"Bloody hell," she murmured. "You guys put an enchantment on the mirror didn't you?"

"No, Hermione," Parvarti said. "I swear to you we didn't."

Then Hermione shrieked.

"My hair! What did you do to my hair?" she turned around and looked at them.

"Well," Ginny laughed nervously, "you see, it was kind of an impulse move. I just thought you would look better with darker hair. It's not even that much of a change."

"Well, it's enough that I can see it!" she yelled.

"Oh Hermione, shut up. Your going to break guys' hearts," Ginny told her. "So let's go to the lake and let everyone see the new you."

"Can't I just go hide instead?" Hermione begged.

"Nope," Ginny shook her head and linked arms with her, Lavender on the other side. The girls walked out and dragged Hermione down to the tree next to the Black Lake. Hermione sat down and tried to make herself shrink between the girls.

"Uhp uhp," Parvarti said, "you have to sit straight." Hermione scowled at them and sat their. "Would this make you feel better?" Parvarti suddenly asked and pulled out a book.

"Oh thank you, thank you, a million times thank you," Hermione said and delved into it quickly. With her distracted, the other witches quickly ran off before Hermione noticed.

"Bloody brilliant move there Parvarti," Ginny laughed.

"I know. Make her think that she's going to be okay and comfortable and then bam, just leave her there," Parvarti said.

They laughed and took one last look at the witch under the tree. She was a sight for sore eyes, and they just knew that good things were going to happen. After all, Lavender felt as if Hermione was finally going to get the guy who was obviously in love with her, Parvarti believed that Hermione was going to finally see the heads and hearts she turned and Ginny just wanted to giver her best friend something to be glad for. Something to appreciate and not need to fear at all. They smiled at each other and then headed off in opposite directions.


	5. Chapter 5 Arrivals

**Disclaimer- The HP characters are owned by the wonderful JK Rowling and always will. **

**Chapter Five Arrivals**

That evening, Hermione had locked herself somewhere and was hiding. The events from the afternoon had made her rush back into the castle and hide out for the rest of the day. Theodore Nott had come up to her and since he didn't recognize her right away, he had thrown some lewd comments at her, hoping to seduce her probably. Hermione had immediately crushed it when she looked up at him and snapped back that he shouldn't be such a vile pig and to have some dignity.

After that, she had stormed away and no one could find her.

Draco sat at the Slytherin table, worried for her. He had picked up some of the comments that Theo had said to her and winced at the vulgarity and innuendo from them.

"So, have you seen her?" Autumn asked Draco.

"Who?" he asked, bored and not really caring.

"Hermione, that's who," she squealed.

"Is she here?" he asked, his interest piquing and he sat up straighter, subtly looking for her.

"No you idiot," Autumn sighed. "So I guess this means you haven't heard about how she looks now?"

"What happened to her?" he asked, looking at her suspiciously.

"You're just going to have to wait and see. Oh and don't try and search in my head, I haven't seen her either. I just thought you wanted a heads up about her," she smirked and went back to her dinner.

Two days later, Hermione woke up earlier then everyone else. She had managed to stay hidden from everyone for the whole weekend, which in reality, hadn't been as hard as she thought it would've been. She walked into the bathroom and pulled her hair up. After an intensive hour of Lavender teaching her what make up was best for her and what she should use, Hermione had gotten everything down. She sighed and combed her hair. She reluctantly admitted that it was now easier to handle than before and after her initial shock, she could see what Ginny meant by saying that a change would be good for her. She pulled it up into a ponytail and started applying her makeup. She used a light amount of everything, only enough to really make her chocolate eyes pop out. It was interesting how a little bit of makeup could really make a girl look different.

Hermione got out and put on her uniform. She grabbed her bag and headed down to the Great Hall. Luckily for her, there were very few people there at the moment. No one really paid any attention to her, so she was able to get eat in peace. She buttered a piece of toast and ate it along with a cup of coffee. She really needed to wake her brain up.

"Um, wow," she heard someone say. She looked behind her and quickly looked in front of her again.

"Hello Cedric," she said, mollified. Why did he have to be down here?

"Can I sit here?" he asked her.

"Yeah, go ahead," Hermione nodded. He sat down and set his bag to the side.

"So, interesting new look you're sporting there," he laughed warmly.

"Mm, yeah. Let's just say that some of the girls got a hold of some products and me," she told him. His kindness and warmth had calmed her down and she found it easier to look at him. "I nearly fainted when I saw my hair," she told him.

"Well, it looks good on you," he told her, "seems softer too."

"Oh yeah," Hermione grabbed a strand and ran her hand through. "It definitely is. And loads lighter too."

"Well, that's good to hear," Cedric smiled and looked at his watch. "Got to run, don't want to be late to class." He got up and waved goodbye. Hermione checked her own watch and when she saw the time, she quickly got up and headed off to her own class.

After class, she saw Harry and Ron waiting for her so they could go to Herbology. She groaned inwardly and headed down to meet them.

"Hey guys," she said.

"Um, hi," Harry said.

"Sorry, do we know you?" Ron asked. Hermione gaped at them.

"Really? You guys can't recognize me?" she asked. Ron shook his head, but Harry looked at her inquisitively. Hermione shook her head and felt slightly crushed. How could some stranger recognize her better than her friends could? "Well, once it hits you as who I might possibly be, I'll be in Herbology." she walked away and then called out over her shoulder, "Don't be late."

Harry and Ron looked at each other, confused.

"You think Mione would kill us if we left her here?" Ron asked Harry.

"No," he said. "She'd understand." Ron shrugged his shoulders and they walked down to the greenhouse. Almost all the students were there, but Harry couldn't find Hermione.

"Hey, Lavender," he called to Lavender.

"What's up Harry?" she turned to look at him. He noticed that she was talking to that girl that had talked to them in the hall. Now that he thought about it, she looked sort of familiar.

"Have you seen Hermione?" he asked her. Lavender and the other girl laughed a little and Lavender shook her head.

"Nope, I have no idea where she is, sorry," she told him.

"Oh, okay. Well, thanks anyways," Harry mumbled and looked away as they burst into another fit of giggles. Professor Sprout had them discuss with each other the effects of the pus and Harry found himself facing the girl. She had a smug look on her face and Harry noticed that she had a Gryffindor tie.

"So, do you want to start, or should I?" she asked him.

"I was just trying to figure out who you were," he mumbled.

"Well, don't hurt yourself," she giggled. Harry couldn't help but laugh with her. Her smile was pretty infectious and her laugh, well, it was a nice sound.

"You seem so familiar, but I can't really place you with a name," Harry said.

"Well, I don't blame you," she said. "After all, how can Harry Potter be expected to remember every person he meets."

Harry felt a little angry at that comment and so he didn't say anything.

"Well, I guess since you won't say anything, I'll go first. Bubotuber pus when diluted can help clear acne up. Your turn," she looked at him.

"Um," he looked around and couldn't think of anything.

"You know," she said to him seriously, "if you had already started your essay or paid attention in class, you might have been able to contribute to our discussion. But since you obviously haven't, we'll see if you can do this next time." She stood up and Harry noticed that class was finishing.

"Don't forget," Professor Sprout called out, "your essays are due next week."

"Bloody hell, Harry," Ron came up next to him. "Did you realize that Hermione wasn't here at all? And now that I'm thinking about it, I haven't seen her since breakfast on Saturday."

"This is weird," Harry muttered. They heard girls laughing and looked up to see Lavender and Parvarti with the girl. "Maybe we'll find out where she is when we see Malfoy."

Ron snorted and rolled his eyes.

"So, since Ron and Harry can't recognize me, I'll just go up to Draco and tell him that I'll work with him since Hermione isn't here," Hermione told Lavender.

"How long do you think it'll take them to recognize you?" Lavender asked, giggling.

"Who knows," Hermione laughed. "I avoided saying a lot about the Bubotubers because I knew that it could've tipped Harry off."

"I love today," Parvarti said. Hermione waved bye once the Slytherins came. Everyone seemed to be with their partners, but Draco was standing there alone.

"Hi, I'll be your partner since yours doesn't seem to be here," Hermione said. She smirked inwardly when she saw Ron nearby, obviously listening to them.

"Wait," Draco looked at her. _Mia?_

_Don't say my name, _Hermione said back in her head. _Harry and Ron don't recognize me. I'm trying to see how long it'll take them._

"You seem familiar," Draco smirked.

"Well, I guess you'll have to figure out why," she told him. "Until then you're stuck with me as your partner."

"I'm Draco Malfoy by the way," he said, holding out his hand.

"Amelia Hawthorne," she said pleasantly, shaking his hand. Draco grinned and they walked over to their Blast Ended Skrewt.

At lunch, there was a wave of rumors going around about who the girl could be. Some of them had recognized her immediately and tried to convince others about who she really was.

"I can't believe this," Harry moaned. "We're idiots Ron," he muttered. "That's obviously Hermione."

"What?" Ron looked at her, surprised.

"Yeah, watch," he said and headed over to her. "Hey Mione."

"About bloody time," she laughed and turned to hug him. "How'd you figure out who I was?"

"Well, once I really thought about it, I realized that we should've known it was you right away," Harry laughed. "When you came up to us, I realized that your book bag was a little big and you looked kind of disappointed that we didn't recognize you right away. And at Herbology, you looked really strained, as if you wanted to say more but couldn't, especially since I wasn't saying anything. Anyways, what really clinched it for me was the fact that we haven't seen you since breakfast on Saturday. So yeah, there are my reasons."

"Well," Hermione laughed, "guess you aren't as blind as I was assuming."

Ron walked over to them, his mouth slacked open.

"Hermione?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes Ronald?" she looked at him, amused. He just stood there, his mouth opening and closing, making him look like a fish out of water. "Well, you two might as well sit down," she laughed and they sat across from her.

"When exactly did this happen anyways?" Harry asked her.

"You know how Ginny wanted me to hang out with her at lunch," Hermione told them. "Well, this is the end product."

"It looks good," Harry said, "so no worries. Especially know that we know who you are."

"Yeah," Hermione nodded, "no worries."

Before they knew it, October 30th had arrived. After Professor Snape had reluctantly let them out, everyone dropped their things off at their Houses and some of the girls fixed their hair. Ginny, Lavender and Hermione all walked down towards the Black Lake where the staff and students were supposed to wait for the Beauxbatons and the Durmstrangs. Hermione saw Harry and Ron and the girls walked over to them.

"So, you lot ready for this?" Ron asked. All three girls squealed excitedly and Harry laughed. All the students looked around eagerly and yet impatiently at the same time.

"How are they coming?" a first year asked. Immediately, everyone threw in their opinions.

"Broomsticks?"

"Too far," Hermione muttered.

"Maybe by train."

"What about apperating?"

"Has no one read _Hogwarts, A History_?" Hermione whispered harshly.

"No," Harry, Ron, Lavender, and Ginny all said together.

"Well, it's not possible to apperate or disapperate from Hogwarts," Hermione huffed.

"If I'm correct," Dumbledore called out from the back, "the delegations of Beauxbatons are arriving."

"Where?" a girl asked.

"There!" another kid yelled.

"What is it?" everyone started clamoring.

"I think they're broomsticks," someone yelled above the racket.

"No you idiot," Dennis Creevey, Colin's little brother yelled out, "It's a huge house!"

Dennis had the closet guess. From the sky came down a huge carriage that was pulled by huge horses.

"Why is everything so big?" Lavender asked in awe. Her question was soon answered. As the carriage landed, two of the people came out and rolled out a carpet. A large woman stepped out and everyone stared in wonderment.

"Bloody hell," Ron whispered. "She's bigger than Hagrid."

"Ah, Madame Maxime, how do I find you today?" Dumbledore asked her.

"Fine, thank you, Dumbly-Dore. 'As Karkaroff arrived yet?" she answered.

Harry turned to Hermione and mouthed, They're French?

She nodded and resumed looking at the students.

"I'm sorry, but no. Would you care to join us or go inside?" he asked her.

"Inside, merci. My students need to warm up." At the mention of her students, Harry looked down to see them. An assortment of teenagers huddled together looking very cold. He didn't blame either, seeing as they were wearing fine silk and didn't seem to have any cloaks. He saw a girl with a shawl wrapped around her and was scowling up at the castle. All the students from Beauxbatons shuffled into Hogwarts and a silence descended on the Hogwarts students again. Finally, someone cried out.

"Look!"

"Where?" people asked.

"There," they pointed at the lake. Everyone turned to look just as the mast of a ship came out. Several people gasped and the ship finally came out. A man stepped out, followed by several older students. They were wearing fur capes and hats.

"Merlin's pants," Ron said weakly, "that's Viktor Krum."

"So?" Hermione said.

"So," Ron answered, "I didn't know he was still in school. Wow Harry, do you have quill? Maybe he'll sign something for me," Ron looked excited.

"No, mate, sorry," Harry told him. "It's upstairs with all my stuff."

The man who first walked out of the ship headed over to Professor Dumbledore.

"Welcome, Igor," he said.

"Albus, so nice to see you," Igor said.

"Happy to see you again. Everyone come into the Great hall," the last part was directed to both the Durmstrang students and his own students. Everyone headed in and Ron, Harry and Hermione all sat down at the Gryffindor table.

Ron sat on the side facing the doorway to see where the Durmstrang students would sit. The Beauxbatons had decided to sit at the Ravenclaw table. They were still wearing their scarves and shawls wrapped around them, looking around with glum expressions.

"It's not that cold," Hermione said defensively, glaring at them.

"Hermione, move over," Ron hissed, not paying attention to what she had said. "Over here, come sit over here. Come on Hermione, budge up-"

"What?" she looked at him, confused.

"Too late," he grumbled and seemed to deflate.

The Durmstrang students had chosen to go and sit at the Slytherin table. Ron saw Malfoy, Zabini, and Nott look smug about that fact. Then, Malfoy leaned over to talk to Krum.

"Yeah, that's right," Ron said scathingly, "Get on his good side while you can, Malfoy. I bet Krum can see right through you. I bet he gets people throwing themselves at his feet on a regular basis." Hermione shook her head and looked behind her towards the Slytherin table.

"Well, they look a lot happier than the Beauxbaton lot," she stated. The Durmstrang students were pulling off their heavy, fur capes and caps, looking around impressed.

When all the students were sitting, the staff entered and the last to come in were the Headmasters of the schools. When the Headmistress passed her students, they quickly stood up, causing some of the Hogwarts students to laugh. They however, looked unfazed and stood standing until she sat down.

"We should be the ones who are ashamed," Hermione said hotly. "At least they show the proper respect to their Headmistress."

Ron snorted and Dumbledore stood up, causing a silence to sweep over the students.

"Good evening, ladies, gentlemen, ghosts and most particularly- guests," he said, beaming around at the foreign students. "I have great pleasure in welcoming all of you to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay will both be comfortable and enjoyable."

One of the girls from Beauxbatons, who still had a muffler around her head seemed to shake with laughter. Harry imagined her rolling her eyes.

"No one's making her stay here," Hermione grumbled. As Dumbledore sat down, food appeared in the table.

"Finally!" Ron exclaimed heartily. "I'm starving."

"Ron," Hermione asked, "do you ever think about anything else but food?"

He didn't answer, but instead studied an odd looking plate of food.

"What is it?" he asked in an awed voice, like a child first discovering some intriguing toy.

"Bouillabaisse," Hermione stated, grabbing some for herself.

"Bless you," he said without thinking.

"No Ron," Hermione sighed, "it's a French pudding. Apparently, we get to try some food from where they're from. Anyways, I had some when I went skiing with-," she stumbled over her words a little and finally managed to spit out the word "family."

She looked down, embarrassed, but no one had really heard her mistake.

"Is it good?" Ron asked.

"Mm-hmm," she said and he grabbed some.

"Well, I'll take your word for it," he said and shoveled some into his mouth.

The hall rang with the clamor of voices as the students discussed the upcoming tournament.

"Excuze me, are you done wit ze bouillabaisse?" a girl asked Ron. He turned around to see who was talking to him and simply gaped at her. Hermione took one look at her and rolled her eyes. It was the girl who had laughed during Dumbledore's speech, but she had taken off her muffler, revealing silky, blonde hair.

"Go ahead, have it," Harry said when Ron didn't answer.

"It's delicious," Ron said hoarsely. The girl took the pudding and started walking back to the Ravenclaw table. "She's a veela," Ron told them.

"No she's not," Hermione laughed.

"I'm telling you, that's no ordinary girl. They don't make them like that her," Ron insisted.

"They make them okay here," Harry mumbled, looking at a pretty Asian girl from the Ravenclaw table.

"No one else is gawking at her like an idiot," Hermione retorted back. She wasn't quite right though. As the girl walked across the hall, many of the guys had stopped doing whatever they had been doing and were staring at her. Hermione huffed and went back to her food.

After about an hour, Professor Dumbledore stood up. The conversations died out and everyone looked up at him.

"I hope everyone is satisfied," a murmur of yes's went up, "very well. Please give a warm welcome to Mr. Barty Crouch." A man stood up and people politely clapped. "And Mr. Ludo Bagman." A pot-bellied man stood up and the hall erupted in cheers. Mr. Bagman smiled widely and waved at all the students. He sat down and Professor Dumbledore continued speaking. "As we all know by now, Hogwarts is hosting the Triwizard Tournament. Tomorrow night, we will see who our three champions will be. The reward for the winner will be 10,000 galleons and eternal glory. This time around, we will not be allowing anyone under 17 to enter due to the high death toll that the tournament is known for having and because most magic required to be done is over the 6th year level."

At this, several students started voicing their anger. The loudest and most obvious were the Weasley Twins.

"That's rubbish," they yelled out.

"Silence!" Dumbledore's voice boomed out and the hall died down quickly. "To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation," he continued "I will be drawing an Age Line across the Goblet once it has been placed in the hall so that the people who wish to enter can cast their names in. Nobody under 17 will be able to cross it. Remember that when you cast it in to write down what school you are representing. Finally, I would like to impress upon you that this is not for the faint-hearted. Once a champion is selected by the Goblet, they must stick through it to the end. The placing of your name creates a magical, binding contract. So please be sure of your decision before putting your name in. Now, I believe it is time for bed. Good night."

Everyone stood up and Fred and George were behind the trio.

"An Age Line?" George snorted, "That should be simple to fool."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Hermione told him.

"Speak for your-" Fred started but was interrupted by Hermione.

"I mean think about it. Dumbledore is the one who is going to be drawing the line. Anyways, you heard Professor Dumbledore. The tasks are created to challenge you. We don't know enough magic nor do we have the knowledge to complete the tasks."

"As I was trying to say," Fred rolled his eyes, "speak for yourself. So Harry, if we figure out how to trick the goblet, you going to try and enter with us?"

"I don't know," he mumbled. Hermione scoffed and stormed away. Harry saw her cut through the Durmstrang students and he saw one of them look at her interestingly.

He stopped walking as he crossed paths with Karkaroff and let him and his students go by.

"Thank you," he said absent mindedly, but then stopped and turned around to face Harry. His eyes went to his scar and Harry sighed inwardly.

"Yeah, that's Harry Potter," a voice said behind him. Harry looked over his shoulder and saw Mad-Eye behind him. "You got anything you want to say to the kid?" cause if not, keep walking, you're holding us up."

Harry looked around Mad-Eye and saw that he was telling the truth. Students were standing there, some of them grumbling in impatience. Karkaroff took another glance at Harry, then without another word left.

Even though the next day was a Saturday, Harry, Ron and Hermione weren't alone in waking up early. By the afternoon, the Great Hall had been cleared as Dumbledore had decided to place the Goblet in there because of the crowd that had been milling around, blocking the entrance. Hermione sat on one of the benches and was reading from her Ancient Runes book. Harry and Ron had decided to stand across the hall and actually watch who entered.

"Bugger, Harry," Ron said after all the Beauxbatons had put their names, "do you think any of the Gryffindor 7th years put in their names?'

"They probably did. Who knows, maybe they put it in after everyone went to sleep. I wouldn't want people to watch me if I were to enter," he told him. As he finished speaking, a huge group of teens burst through the doors, cheering and pushing someone along. At the front of the group, grinning nervously, was Cedric Diggory. He looked up at the Goblet solemnly and then shifted his gaze towards Hermione. He put his name in , causing all the Hufflepuffs to cheer. Cedric took another look at Hermione, causing her to smile and look away. Harry saw their silent communication and how Cedric seemed a lot more elated. They all left and Harry looked back at Hermione. She had resumed reading her book, as if nothing had happened.

_Nice to know her makeover didn't affect her personality, _Harry thought amused.

Some other commotion caught his attention and he looked over just in time to see Fred and George burst into the hall.

"Oh Merlin," Ron moaned.

The twins seemed animated about something and were extremely excited.

"It's done," they yelled to everyone.

"What is?" a first year yelled.

"The Aging potion," George, or Fred who really knew, cried out.

"It's not going to work," Hermione said in a sing-song voice.

"Oh really," George walked over to her and crouched down behind her.

"And why not?" Fred asked from the other side.

"You see that line?" Hermione pointed to the blue line encircling the Goblet, "Dumbledore drew it himself. I doubt he's going to be fooled by something perfectly dimwitted."

"That's why it's going to work," George started.

"Because it's perfectly dimwitted," Fred finished for him. They stood up and shook the potions. They turned to face each crossed arms.

"Bottoms up," they said and drank it. They tossed the flasks and jumped into the circle. "Yeah," they grinned moronically and everyone cheered once they didn't get pushed out. Harry began to have a good feeling about their whole plan.

The twins both took out pieces of papers that had their names and school name written on it. They threw it in and everyone held their breaths as they waited to see what happened.

As the seconds ticked by, they started cheering at their success. Fred and George turned their backs to the goblet and then the fire started turning a green color. The flames then burst up and it seemed to make Fred and George fly out of the circle. Everyone started laughing when the twins started growing beards rapidly and their hair and beard turned white.

They looked at each other and pointed at their hair.

"You said," Fred started.

"You said," George repeated. They sat there in shock for a second, and then threw themselves at each other and were rolling around the ground, throwing punches.

"I did warn you," a solemn voice came out of nowhere. The crowd looked over and saw Dumbledore strolling in to the Hall. "You may go to the Hospital Wing to have the effects of the potion taken off. Poppy is already attending to two other students, though I must admit," here he chuckled "their beards are nowhere as fine as yours." He smiled at them, his eyes twinkling, and everyone laughed.

Harry looked at Hermione and saw her roll her eyes with a smug little smirk.


	6. Chapter 6 Misfortune

**A/N- this chapter is more of a filler, but was still somewhat interesting to write. Oh, and Luna finally makes her appearance. :) Thank you to everyone who has reviewed my story. they make my world go round.**

**Disclaimer-Last time I checked, I wasn't JKR**

Chapter Six Misfortune

"I'm telling you," Autumn laughed, "Contrary to what my dear brother may say, he is obviously, madly in love with our lovely Cassiopia."

"Don't call her by that ghastly name," Raven muttered. "Call her Amelia."

"Why else would he be so defensive around Ron? The poor ginger wears his heart on his sleeve and have you seen the way Ron gets so jealous of any guy who talks to Hermione?" Autumn mused.

"There's going to be some trouble around here between Ron and Draco," Raven grinned. The two girls linked arms and strolled down the hallway. As they turned the corner, they ran into Ginny and another girl.

"Hello," the girl said cheerfully.

"Hi," they said.

"Oh, um," Ginny started a bit awkwardly, "Autumn, Raven this is Luna Lovegood. Luna-"

"Oh I know Autumn," Luna said "I'm guessing that you're Blaise's sister?" Luna asked Raven.

"Yeah. I've never seen you at any of the Malfoy's parties, but I hear that you guys are good friends," Raven said.

"That's because my dad and I only spend an hour there," Luna said. Raven nodded, understanding now.

"So," Ginny said, filling in the awkward silence. At that moment, loud voices filled the hallway and the four girls ran into the nearest open room. When Autumn closed the door, they realized how tiny the room was. All this was soon forgotten when the arguing stopped in front of the door.

"Just drop it okay. You can not tell me who I can and cannot hang out with Ronald," a girl yelled.

"Hermione, I just don't want you hanging out with Malfoy, and come on, Cedric! He's bloody three years older than you. I doubt friendship is all he has on his mind," Ron retorted.

"I can take care of myself," Hermione said hotly.

Autumn could just imagine Hermione turning to face Ron and glare at him, straight in his eyes until he would look away.

"Anyways, Draco and I have been friends since we were children, so don't you dare tell me to stop hanging out with him. I didn't listen to my mother and I most definitely will not listen to you."

"Come on, Harry. Back me up here mate," Ron said.

"Hermione's right," Harry told him. "But still, Hermione, please do be careful around older guys."

The girls heard Hermione groan in frustration and walk away. They didn't hear the boys leave, but after ten minutes, the girl's decided it was safe to come out.

"Finally," Ginny exclaimed in relief, "my legs were getting cramped in there."

"It seems like the Golden trio is about to split," Raven said, "Ron just needs one more thing before he goes over the edge." She and Autumn shared a knowing look and Luna gasped, eyes widening.

"You don't mean-" she started.

"That's exactly what we mean," Autumn grinned.

"I bet Draco's simply over the moon about this," Luna giggled. All three girls burst into a fit of giggles while Ginny stood there awkwardly.

"I'm sorry Ginny," Autumn finally managed to wheeze out, "we didn't mean to make you feel left out."

But when Ginny looked over at Raven, she could see that the girl was anything but sorry. Again that hint of jealousy flared up in her eyes. Ginny still didn't understand that look or why it was even there. Then Luna grabbed Raven's attention.

"So, Raven, tell me how Beauxbatons is," Luna asked. Raven smiled and started talking as they walked off a little ways from the other two girls.

"Seems like Luna and Raven became fast friends," Ginny said, making small talk.

"Yeah," Autumn sighed.

She sounded so sad and when Ginny peeked a look at her, she saw that her eyes were full of anger, mistrust and sadness.

_It can't be from Luna and Raven hitting it off so well, _Ginny thought. _I mean, they're two peas in a pod. Both are a bit eccentric, and Luna is also a blonde, so she could easily take Autumn's place next to Raven. Well, except for the fact that Luna is more of a golden blonde while Autumn is a platinum blonde. Unless, maybe that's why she seems so pissed! Autumn doesn't want to lose Raven._

"Well," Autumn suddenly said, "we have to go now."

Raven looked over her shoulder and then turned back to Luna to say a hasty goodbye. She waved bye to Ginny also as Autumn linked their arms together and pulled her away.

"So," Ginny said after the other two girls left, "that was odd."

"I think Raven is nicer than you let on," Luna smiled.

"I don't know," Ginny sighed and they walked into the Great Hall, "maybe it's just me she doesn't like. Anyways, you two seem to have hit it off really well."

"You think?" Luna asked brightly.

"Yup," Ginny nodded, popping the p. "So, what did you two talk about?"

"Oh nothing," Luna replied. "Just about Beauxbatons."

They grabbed a few sandwiches and went out to the Black Lake to go eat.

That evening, everyone headed down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast.

Hermione had hung back until the last minute, and after everyone had left, she started going down. She was hoping that she would be able to catch up to Draco. The last time they had talked was in Hagrid's class after her makeover.

Only a handful of people were walking over; none were Draco.

"Hey Hermione," someone said. She stopped walking and looked to see who it was.

"Oh, hello Cedric," she replied back, a bit surprised. "How have you been?"

"Fine, fine," he said, and yet, as he replied, Hermione saw how he was wringing his hands and looked tense.

She smirked a little and asked, "So, what's wrong?"

He laughed nervously and his eyes wandered around. "What makes you think anything is wrong?"

"Well," she began, "your hands look like they're just about ready to kill themselves." He looked down at his hands and stopped, running one through his hair. "You also seem really tense and your eyes keep flicking around. Also, if I could, I'd bet I would be able to hear your heart beating very fast."

He laughed and put up his hands in defeat.

"You got me," he finally said. "I'm just nervous about this whole thing. I mean, what if I get chosen, but I'm not good enough?" He looked so forlorn, Hermione couldn't help but sympathize with him.

"I doubt that you won't be good enough. After all, if you're chosen, then that means that out of all the people who put in their name, you were the one the Goblet chose. That means something, Cedric," she told him. "I'm sure you'll be fine. Bye."

They parted ways and headed to their respective tables.

"What took you so long?" Ron asked Hermione as she sat down.

"Just talking to a friend, Ronald. Sorry I didn't ask for your permission, _mum, _" she snapped at him.

Harry choked on his drink a little as he tried not to laugh. Ron rolled his eyes and Hermione had a smirk on her face.

"Merlin Hermione, would you stop that," Ron said angrily. "It's so bloody annoying. And you look like Malfoy when you do that."

Hermione glared at him and snatched a bread off one of the plates.

"You know Ron, once you get to know him, you'll see he's really not that bad," Hermione hissed at him.

"Oh please, I would never let myself be caught fraternizing with a Death Eater's son. After all, that's why you won't publicly be seen with him, isn't it?" Ron snarled.

She gritted her teeth and turned her back to him.

Ron looked down at his plate, fuming. Why couldn't Hermione understand that he was just trying to protect her? It's Malfoy for crying out loud. He couldn't ask Harry for help since a) Hermione was right there and b) they were talking about Sirius at the moment.

Draco was stuck in hell. To his right sat Pansy, chattering away about who knows what and to his left was Marcus Flint. Just sitting next to them made Draco want to take the longest shower in the world, just so he could make sure that they didn't rub off on him.

"Of course I put my name," he heard Flint say. Draco looked over and saw that he was talking to Theodore. "This school is stupid if they really think that none of us aren't going to try and be the Hogwarts Champion."

_Oh damn,_ Draco thought wearily.

_What is it? _he felt Hermione brush his mind, worried from his slight burst of anxiety.

_I just heard that Flint put his name in the Goblet. Apparently, he wants to be the Hogwarts champion, _he told her.

She snorted and he saw her flip her hair back.

_If Marcus Flint were to become our champion, I'm pretty sure that 99.99% of us would go support one of the other two schools, _she laughed.

Draco looked down at his plate and smirked slightly.

After everyone was done eating, all the plates were cleared. Professor Dumbledore stood up and everyone looked towards him.

"I hope everyone has eaten to their heart's content," he called out. Murmurs of satisfaction swept up before he resumed speaking. "Tonight, our three champions will be chosen. I shall remind you that once your name has been chosen, it creates a binding contract. All of the tasks must be completed by yourself. You may not receive any outside help from neither the staff nor your peers."

As he finished his speech, Filch and another professor brought in the Goblet of Fire. Dumbledore turned to look at it and every students' eyes seemed to become transfixed to it. They all waited in silence and a heavy stillness seemed to drape itself over everyone. Finally, the fire turned blue and a tongue of fire shot out a piece of paper.

"The champion for Beauxbatons is, Fluer Delacour!"

The girl who had laughed earlier stood up and Hermione rolled her eyes as another girl burst into tears.

Dumbledore turned again to the Goblet. This time, the fire turned red.

"The champion for Durmstrang, Victor Krum!"

"That was an obvious," Ron told Harry as the whole Durmstrang school cheered for Krum.

The hall became silent again as the flames turned golden.

_What if it's somebody from Hufflepuff?_ Hermione thought to herself silently.

"The champion for Hogwarts," Hermione stopped breathing without noticing and her heart seemed to have slowed, "Cedric Diggory!"

The Hufflepuff table exploded in cheers. Hermione breathed out in relief and sat there beaming. Cedric stood up in a daze and walked out into another room.

"Now," Dumbledore started, but was interrupted by the Goblet as it began spewing out flames. They turned a harsh green and grew in height, the flames seemingly trying to lick the ceiling. He stumbled back, covering his face from the brightness and heat of the fire. Finally, it shot out another piece of paper.

Everyone sat there quietly as it slowly glided down. Just as forever seemed to pass, Dumbledore's arm shot up and snatched the paper from the air.

"Harry Potter," he whispered in horror.

A/N- I know, this chapter is really short. So sorry. :(


	7. Chapter 7 Competition

**Disclaimer: Obviously not mine or else it wouldn't be on _Fan_fiction.**

**A/N: I just want to thank everyone who has reviewed, favorited and has decided to follow my story. All it takes is one good review to make me want to continue with my story. Sorry I've been away for so long, but finally, the long awaited, chapter , btw is mainly in Cedric's pov, which is why it's short. :)**

Chapter Seven competition

"Harry Potter," he called out to the crowd. An angry buzz began and Hermione looked over towards Harry, horror written as clear as day on both of their faces.

"HARRY POTTER!" Dumbledore's voice reverberated in the hall.

"Go Harry," Hermione whispered harshly and Harry stood up reluctantly.

All the staff was silent, but the students had a different reaction.

"He's a cheat!" someone yelled out in the crowd and this set off other remarks, especially at the Hufflepuff table.

"He's not even 17!" a girl yelled out. Harry walked through the doors and their jeers were cut short.

Hermione sat there in shock, with only worry coursing through her.

Cedric was studying the other two champions in the room. The only one he knew to worry about was Viktor Krum. After all, this was the legendry seeker, but still, just being able to say that he competed against Krum would be amazing.

Now as for the other girl, she looked very interesting, but not much like competition. She had silky, blonde hair and her eyes were a deep blue. She was tall and willowy, seeming graceful even as she stood there. Her skin was so light, it seemed to emit a glow from her. She was definitely beautiful, drop dead gorgeous if Cedric was honest with himself, but her personality, her arrogance dimmed her beauty in his opinion. After having gotten to know Hermione better, he felt as if Fleur was a little too shallow for his taste.

He didn't know what was going to keep the other two champions motivated throughout this whole thing, but all he knew was that he could close his eyes and Hermione's words would drift down to him.

"_Out of all the people who put in their name, you were the one the Goblet chose. That means something, Cedric." _

The earnest in her eyes and the ability for her to immediately empathize with him had surprised him a little, but he had forgotten momentarily that she was Harry Potter's best friend. It was probably in her job to be able to empathize with people instantaneously.

The door reopened and all three champions looked up, expecting to see the Heads of their schools. Instead, they were greeted with the sight of Harry Potter.

"Do zey want us back up there?" Fleur asked him, slightly confused.

"Um, no," he told her, looking around awkwardly. "I'm a champion also."

All three looked at him in surprise. Why did Hogwarts have two champions?

The doors burst open and Dumbledore seemed to be racing down the stair, the other Heads and the two ministry workers following after him.

Cedric looked over at Harry and saw that he looked a little scared, but mainly confused.

"Did you put your name in the Goblet?" Dumbledore cornered Harry and asked him again. "Did you put your name in there?"

"No, Professor," Harrysaid, shaking his head.

"Did you ask an older student to put your name in the Goblet?" he asked.

"Of course not," Harry said, surprised.

"Madame," Fleur went over to Madame Maxime. "Zis leetle boy is saying that 'e is a champion."

"Albus, this is ridiculous. If we had known that students under 17 could try, we would have brought ours," Professor Karkaroff said.

"It seems that 'Ogwarts wants two bites at ze apple," Madame Maxime scoffed.

Just then, Professors Snape, Moody and McGonagall came down the room.

"Weren't you the one who drew the line so that none of the students could trick the Goblet into letting their name be entered?" Karkaroff spat.

"Don't blame Professor Dumbledore for this," Snape sneered. "Mr. Potter has a habit of breaking rules whenever he can."

"Severus," Dumbledore chastised softly.

"Maybe the Goblet was confunded. If so, dark magic would have been used to confuse the Goblet into thinking there are four schools. Just put Potter as the only one under that school and it's a done deal for him," Moody said as he entered the room.

"It seems you have thought this one out very thoroughly, Mad-Eye," Karkaroff turned to sneer at him.

"It seems you have forgotten that it was once my job to think like a dark wizard," Moody replied softly, and yet his voice seemed to have a hint of malice in there.

To Cedric's surprise, Karkaroff's face blanched a little.

"Alastor," Dumbledore said in a warning tone.

"Can he be let out Barty?" Ludo Bagman asked Mr. Crouch.

"I'm afraid that it is not possible," Mr. Crouch said. "His name has been chosen, therefore, Harry must complete the tasks."

"Well, then, how about letting the other schools put their students name again until all three school's have two champions," Igor scowled.

"I'm afraid it's too late," Mr. Crouch said. "The Goblet has already turned off and won't work again until the next tournament."

The Heads from the other schools grumbled in discontent and were silenced with a little throat coughing from Mr. Crouch.

"For the first task, the champions shall remain in the dark as to what will happen in order to test their magical abilities. Therefore, I advise that they study up on all the spells that they know."

With that, Karkaroff and Madame Maxime took their students and left the room.

"You two should go to your Houses now," Professor McGonagall said to Cedric and Harry. "Perhaps the other students are still up, waiting for a chance to congratulate you."

"Of course professor," Harry muttered. Both of the walked out of the rooms and down the hall in silence.

"So, champion, huh," Cedric said, trying to engage Harry in a conversation.

"I didn't out my name in there," he muttered through gritted teeth.

"Don't need to tell me that," Cedric laughed a little. "Just be careful out there, all right. Maybe you should find some time to practice on spells that you don't know."

"Research?" Harry asked amusedly. "I think I'll leave that to Hermione."

They both started laughing and parted ways.

Cedric went down the stairs and finally arrived at the Hufflepuff Dormitory. He muttered the password and was let in. it seemed that Professor McGonagall was right. A huge explosion met him as all the Hufflepuffs were cheering and celebrating the news that he was Hogwarts champion.

"Congratulations, Cedric," Hannah, a nice, shy 4th year, said to him.

"About time that Hufflepuff was under the spotlight, right," Justin Finch-Fletchly laughed as he shook Cedric's hand.

Cedric nodded and replied when needed and finally made his way to the seats in front of the fireplace.

"Hey," Liam laughed, "how is the fame?"

"Tiring," he grunted.

"Yeah, well Granger wanted to tell you 'Congratulations'," Liam told him.

"She did?" Cedric looked up in happiness.

"Yeah," he laughed. "Damn, you've got it bad don't you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he scowled.

"Oh no, of course not," Liam said, exasperated, "You don't just spend more than half your time in the library because that's where she hangs out."

"I told you I was working on an assignment," Cedric hissed.

"I'm not stupid Ced," Liam said softly. "I know you like her, it's fine. You don't have to lie about it."

"Yeah," he muttered in defeat. "I think I'm just going to go to sleep."

"Night," he said and Cedric waved as he went up the stairs.

Light poured in to the room and Liam watched as his friend turned his back to it and kept on sleeping.

"Hey sleepy head," he called out, "we have classes in 5 minutes."

He watched amused as Cedric nearly shot out of the bed and ran into the bathroom, coming out about a minute later, and struggling with his tie.

"I'm ready," he yawned and attempted to flatten his hair.

"Just kidding," Liam snickered, "today is Sunday, but still, let's see what everyone says about you being a champion. You might even get to talk to Hermione."

"Let me just change my stupid clothes," Cedric muttered and walked back into the bathroom. He came back out in normal clothes and they headed to the door to leave and Cedric kept on trying to tame his hair.

"Just leave it man," Liam swatted his hand away.

"It doesn't matter, she's outside," Cedric said, catching a glimpse of her dark curls and Harry's messy hair.

"Harry, you've got to owl Snuffles about this," Hermione said fervently. "Wouldn't you rather have him learn about this from you than from the Prophet? It wouldn't be fair for him to find out like that. Plus, who knows how they'll manage to twist this up too."

"I don't know Hermione," Harry sighed and they sat down. "I'm just scared that if I do he'll come barging through the doors."

"Harry, he knows how much he means to you, don't worry about it," Hermione told him.

"Fine," he sighed, defeated. "But I don't have any paper."

"No worries," she beamed and pulled out some paper and a quill.

"Forgot, I'm talking to Hermione Granger aren't I?" Harry laughed. "So, I wouldn't be surprised if you had an owl at hand for me too?"

"No," Hermione said slowly, "but I can get one ready for you by the time you're done with the letter."

Harry laughed and shook his head.

"It's okay Mione," he told her. "I'm sure I can handle going up to the Owlery."

"Of course," she laughed.

They both sat there in silence, the only sound heard was the scratching of the quill against the paper.

"I think that's it then," Harry said and stretched. He got up and looked down at her. "Coming?"

She shook her head.

"I think I'll sit here for awhile," she murmured and Harry left.

She sighed and looked out at the lake. Why was it that every year, Harry managed to end up in some form of trouble. A year had yet to pass where Harry didn't find himself in the Hospital Wing.

"Sickle for your thought?" a voice came from above. Hermione looked up, startled, and saw Cedric standing there.

"Cedric, you scared me for a moment there," she laughed nervously.

"Sorry," he smiled ruefully. "Do you mind?"

"Oh, of course not, I'm sorry. I should've offered a seat right away," she said, scooting over so he could sit down.

"It's okay," he said, "you're worried about Harry."

"Is it obvious?" she laughed sarcastically. She sighed and covered her face. "Will there not be a year when his life isn't in danger in some way?" she asked to no one in particular.

"I doubt it," Cedric replied. "Or else, he wouldn't be quite Harry, now would he?" They laughed and both leaned back on the rock.

"Thanks," she whispered.

"No problem," he murmured.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Not mine, nuff said.**

**A/N: I had fun writing this chapter. Draco is more of himself in this one, at least in my opinion. This chapter is more of a T+ due to vulgar language and other stuff. Hope you like it. :) Oh, and i want to thank DaRk AnGeL oF sOrRoW rEtUrNs for all the wonderful reviews. They really made my day and each one made me smile. :D  
**

Chapter Eight Unintended Side Effects

Hermione soon found herself in the same predicament that Harry himself had been in third year. Ron refused to talk to Harry, even less be around him. Hermione understood that even though she stuck by Harry's side, he didn't really care as much as if it had been Ron by his side. After all, she was nothing like Ron and mainly focused on studying.

"Um, Harry, I'm just going to walk around, okay?" Hermione finally said. She ran to the room of requirement and asked for Draco's and her hiding place. The door appeared and she rushed inside, making a beeline straight towards one of the couches. She threw herself on it and let out a loud, muffled scream.

_Haven't done that in awhile_, she sighed.

_What? _Draco's voice flooded her head.

_Throw a fit, _she laughed.

_Wait, where are you?_

_Guess._

It went silent for about two minutes and then,

"I guessed you'd be here," his voice was right next to her ear and she screamed in surprise. "Bloody hell, woman," he winced and massaged his ears.

"That was not very nice," she gasped.

He sat down next to her and hugged her with one arm.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't resist though," he chuckled. "You were just laying here, innocent, unguarded, absolutely unsuspecting of anything. So, tell me, what happened?"

Hermione sighed and seemed to deflate. She laid her head on Draco's shoulder and he leaned back on the couch.

"Draco, how do you balance being my friend, somewhat pretending to be the same Malfoy of last year and at the same time, trying to be nice to my friends?" Hermione asked him. Draco laid down and Hermione let her body slide with his, so her head was now on his chest.

"Let's see," he murmured. "I avoid your friends at all times possible. But, I must warn you. All the Slytherins are expecting me to give Harry hell for having been chosen as a champion. What do you, oh smart Hermione Granger, advise me to do?"

Hermione smacked his chest lightly for the sarcastic comment and then closed her eyes to finally let Draco's emotions wash over her completely. She could feel how distraught he was, torn between protecting his family and protecting their fragile friendship.

She sighed and lifted her head.

"Do what you must," she said reluctantly, "just try keeping it at a minimal."

Draco studied her face a little and pulled her up to hug her. "Why does everything have to be so difficult?" he muttered.

"Because, we're Romeo and Juliet, except that we're just friends," Hermione explained. "Our houses are enemies and everybody, save a few people, believes me to be a mud-"

"Don't say that word," Draco hissed, cutting her off. "I hate saying it and will not stand to hear you say it. I get it, we're the Montagues and The Capulets." He uncovered her mouth and out his arms around her waist. She got in a more comfortable position and closed her eyes again.

In Draco's arms, she felt as if there really was someone out there who cared about her. With Ron and Harry, they were both distant from her. They never let her talk about her problems and tended to side against her. Lavender had mentioned that the two boys were probably only friends with her because she was so smart and could help them out whenever they needed it. With that parting thought, she drifted off to sleep.

Draco stared up at the ceiling and listened to Hermione's breathing until it finally evened out, indicating that she had fallen asleep. He mulled over her last thoughts and scowled in disapproval. Why was she so worried over the thoughts of two idiots who, in her opinion, didn't really quite care about her? He didn't understand the reasoning behind all this. If anything, it seemed as if Lavender would be a more suitable friend for her. After all, if it weren't for her, and Ginny's cunning skills, Hermione would have never gone under any kind of makeover and it was Lavender's opinion that Hermione was listening to, strangely enough.

_Oh what would Raven think if she were to hear all my worries about Mia, _he sighed.

Draco played with Hermione's hair and looked at her. She seemed thinner, that was slightly noticeable, which would also explain why she felt so light in his arms. He sighed and closed his eyes, letting sleep wash over him.

Harry came down from the Hospital Wing, feeling terrible. First, Ron wasn't speaking to him because he thought that he had purposely placed his name in the Goblet to be chosen. Now, Hedwig was mad at him because he had used some barn owl to send Sirius the letter instead of her. At least he had only needed a simple mending spell.

He headed back to the Gryffindor tower, using the Marauders' map to avoid people. He walked up to his room and flopped into bed. Tomorrow, he would have to face the rest of the school and knew that there was no way he would be able to avoid the Hufflepuffs. Even worse, he was going to have to face the Slytherins for the first time since he had become champion.

Harry took off his shoes and pulled the covers over him.

*BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!*

Harry turned off the alarm and got up. He headed to the showers and turned the water on. He stood there for ten minutes and finally got out, wrapping his towel around his waist, loosely. He came out of the bathroom, just as a group of third and fourth year Gryffindor girls passed him. They all went red and started giggling. They ran off and Harry rolled his eyes. He went back to the boy's dormitories and put his clothes on. He grabbed his things and went to the Great Hall to grab something to eat before Herbology started, then headed out to the stairs to wait for Hermione to come from her Ancient Runes class.

"Hey Harry," she smiled, coming downstairs.

"Hi," he greeted her back. "Do you want me to help you?" he asked her, pointing at her book bag.

"Um," she looked a bit flushed, "actually, could you hold these for me?" She pointed at the three books on top of the pile. He took them out and saw that two of them were schoolbooks and the third was _Hogwarts, A History. _

"Really Mio?" he laughed. "I understand these two but, _Hogwarts_? Do you intend to let that poor bag live?"

"Possibly," she laughed and they made their way over to Greenhouse Four and sat at their usual table. Hermione sat down between Harry and Ron and made an attempt at small talk.

The class also brought to mind that the Hufflepuffs weren't just mad at him. Justin, Bert and Ernie, whom he usually got along with well, ignored him and Hermione too. Usually, Justin and Hermione would have a friendly banter during class as everyone worked, but there was total and complete silence at their table, joined along with a tension that could've been cut with a knife.

The bell finally rang and Harry nearly jolted out of the class. Hermione struggled to keep up with him and finally decided to just meet up with him at Hagrid's Hut.

"Harry, just let it go," Hermione told him. "You go through this all the time with the Slytherins. It's no different. I mean, the Hufflepuffs just stay quiet, but the intentions are the same."

"Oh trust me, it's different," Harry laughed darkly.

"Oh really? And how is that?" she shot back.

He gritted his teeth and kept on walking. Whenever he would go through anything like this, he had always had Ron at his side. Now however, Ron just didn't care. But there was no way he would ever voice that, least of all to Hermione.

Hermione tugged on his sleeve to slow him down, but Harry pulled his sleeve away from her. He looked at her and finally stopped when he saw the Slytherins.

"Well, well, well," Draco smirked, "if it isn't our, champion." He sneered the last part and Harry fought the impulse to punch him in the face.

"Let's go," Harry muttered to Hermione.

"I don't think he'll last half an hour in the first task," Pansy shrieked as Harry tried to get away. All the Slytherins laughed, but Draco shook his head.

"You have too much confidence in him Pans," Draco drawled. "I don't think he'll last ten minutes in there."

As all the Slytherins laughed, Harry finally saw how Draco's eyes kept growing colder and it finally hit him that Malfoy wasn't enjoying this little performance.

With that stroke of revelation, Harry came up with a brilliant idea.

"I bet you I can," he smirked. Hermione looked over at him in shock and Draco seemed surprised and intrigued.

"What do you get if you win?" Draco asked.

"Drakie-poo," Pansy whined, "you can't be serious about this."

"Shut up," he muttered and looked back at Harry. "So Potter? What are the offers?"

"If I win," Harry began, "you have to quit bugging me. If you win, then you have my permission to continue making my life a living hell."

All the Slytherins became quiet as they watched their prince mull over the idea.

"You know Potter," Draco laughed, "that is about the best idea I've ever heard. Do these restrictions extend to the rest of the Slytherins?"

"No," Harry said reluctantly, "it would just be you."

He ignored the sighs of relief from the others and stared at Draco.

"Deal," Draco finally agreed just as Hagrid came out of his hut.

"Come on," Harry said, pulling Hermione to the front. "Did you see Draco's eyes when he was insulting me?"

"No," Hermione shook her head. _But I heard his thoughts, _she thought to herself. "I thought that was really noble of you though, offering Draco a way out of this, while still allowing the other Slytherins to continue being themselves."

"Yeah, that's me, noble Harry," he said sarcastically.

Hagrid went to the front of the class and called for their attention.

"Git wit your partners an' go to yer skrewts," he told them. Everybody shuffled around and stood next to their crates and partners.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked Draco lowly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Was it obvious that I didn't enjoy that?" he asked her.

"Not as obvious as you thought so," Hermione said, "I mean, it took Harry awhile to realize it, but eventually he did."

"Yeah, thank goodness for that. I would never have thought of something like that," Draco smiled tightly, hating the fact that he was acknowledging that _Harry Potter_, for Merlin's sake, was sometimes a little more smarter than him. "It saves me from a lot of torture if Harry does survive the first task."

"He'll make it," Hermione said a little hotly and Draco accidentally laughed a little loudly and quickly shut himself up.

"A'right everybody," Hagrid called out, "we're going to try an' walk the skrewts." He walked around, giving the groups a leash. "Just tie em around their middle."

As soon as the students had the skrewts tied and out, the skrewts started rampaging throughout the place.

"AHH!" Dean yelled in terror as he was dragged behind the Skrewt as Goyle laughed at the scene. That is, until it turned around and charged Goyle down. Everyone was either running in fear or laughing at the stupidity shown by those running from the creatures.

A skrewt was heading straight towards Hermione and she screamed, jumping over to Draco and wrapping her arms around his neck. Draco instinctively scooped her up and stepped back just as the skrewt charged past were Hermione had just been standing. They started laughing and then, they realized where they were.

Hermione looked at Draco and he at her. He let her down and she let him go, smoothing out her skirt.

"Um, sorry," she said and he nodded.

"Um, yeah," he stuttered. They both looked around nervously and Hermione cleared her throat. Neither of them saw Pansy glaring at them from afar.

Finally, class was over and the last skrewt was being wrestled back into the crate by Hagrid. Hermione walked over to Harry and they started walking back to the castle.

"Interesting class," Harry laughed.

"Um, yeah, interesting," Hermione muttered.

Harry looked at her and felt as if something had happened. He didn't probe into it though, because he didn't want to be right.

"I'll see you later, Harry," she smiled and walked away to the library as he made his way to Divination.

Draco trudged up the stairs and lugged himself onto one of the bean things that Professor Trelawney had. In all honesty, he would rather be in the library with Hermione, but she had yelled at him for the last time he had skived off of the class to talk to her.

"Are you just going to sleep through this whole thing?" Theo asked him. Nudging him under the ribs to wake him up.

"Oh, damn, what are we doing?" Draco asked groggily.

"Well, we're talking about dreams, so you can go first, since you were just sleeping," Theo snickered.

"Um, okay, I was dreaming about Quidditch, and it was a rainy day and then you woke me up," Draco muttered.

"Damn," Theo muttered, "I was hoping for something a little more juicy."

"What? Maybe something like," Draco thought for a second, "oh I don't know. A girl's creamy thighs wrapped around me as I'm seducing her in the library?"

"Hell yeah," Theo laughed, "and then I can make fun of you and either call you a perv or tell you that you are most definitely not getting enough action."

"Swell," Draco muttered. "I know what you would want to dream about."

"Oh yeah?" Theo said defensively, "and what would that be?"

"Granger," Draco snorted.

"I didn't know that was her," he snapped at him. "It was a mistake."

"Yeah, well that's what you get for wanting to bed every girl you see around the school," Draco growled.

"Shut up, why are we even talking about this?" Theo snarled.

Draco smirked and looked at his watch. Just five more minutes and then he could finally get out of this hellish class and go to lunch.

"Don't forget to keep track of your dreams and writing down their meanings," Professor Trelawney reminded them as they all packed up to leave.

Draco sighed and walked out the door, thinking of only food, just to be barreled by Pansy.

"Hey Drakie-poo," she said, fluttering her eyelashes in an attempt to look alluring and innocent.

Draco mentally vomited all over the place but sufficed himself with simply glaring at her.

"What do you want, Pansy," he sneered.

"Well, I saw how that mudblood had her hands all over you during care of Magical Creatures and was just wondering, why the _HELL _you just let her slimy fingers crawl all over you?"she glared at him and gritted her teeth. "I mean, did you enjoy the fact thatshe was touching you or something? She is not good company to keep!"

Draco stood there rigidly as Pansy continued her monologue. Inside, he was murdering her a million different ways, and quite happily too.

"Shut up," he finally snapped. Pansy shut her mouth in surprise and looked at him. "Don't call me Drakie-whatever the fuck it is you say, ever again. So what if Granger had her arms around my neck. It was class, you idiot. She has more right to touch me whenever she wants than you do right now, you _whore_," he hissed. "You can pretend all you want that you are infatuated with me, but I know that you go around sleeping with as many guys as you can in the Slytherin house."

Pansy looked around nervously, hoping that there was no one to hear what Draco was saying at the moment.

"Let's not even mention the occasional Gryffindor that you like to string around for fun." he snorted, "So how about you keep your trap shut and leave me the fuck alone. I don't even want to see your face right now," he whispered harshly.

Pansy flinched at the sight of his glare and she felt tears welling up. She gasped out a sob and ran quickly from him and down the stairs without even being stopped by anyone to be asked what was the matter with her.

Draco sighed and clenched his teeth tightly, rubbing his temple and slowly descending the stairs. That had been a little harsh and unintended. Who knew how Pansy was going to make him pay for that little outburst.

_Hermione, _he sent his thought out to Hermione.

He felt her mind stir and turn to him.

_Are you in the Great Hall yet? _he asked her.

_No. Draco, what's wrong?_

_Will you meet me in the Room of Requirement? _he asked.

_I'll be there in a sec,_ her pressure faded back to a light pressure, something that could easily be ignored, but Draco could sense her worry at his fatigue.

He arrived at the Room of Requirement and walked into their room. Hermione had already started the fire and had set up a table with food that she had brought from the kitchens.

"Knock, knock," he said and Hermione turned around to look at him.

"Are you okay?" she rushed over to him and placed a hand on his forehead.

Draco sighed and let his head fall a little lower to Hermione's cool hand.

"I'm fine," he told her. "I just got into a huge argument with Pansy. It was dumb, but now I have a huge headache and I just didn't want to be around a huge amount of people."

"So instead, I was the lucky one who got stuck with grumpy Draco Malfoy?" she asked him, teasingly.

"Well, as I see it, yes, yes you are the lucky one who got stuck with the ever incredible, most devilishly handsome, Draco Malfoy," he bantered back.

"Don't flatter yourself," Hermione laughed and they sat down at the table. "A huge ego never looked good on anyone."

"That is not what you're supposed to say to a sick person," Draco exclaimed. "You're supposed to agree with them and flatter them."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Hermione laughed, looking around, "I didn't know we had a sick patient in here."

He stuck out his tongue and Hermione snickered.

"I have a headache, that should count as being sick," he pouted.

"Don't be a big baby," Hermione jokingly scolded him. She served herself some food and started with a sandwich. Draco grabbed some fruit and ate an orange.

"Anyways, what exactly happened between you and Pansy?" she asked him.

"Can we not talk about that?" Draco moaned. "I was an ass to her because she insulted you. I mean, she doesn't exactly know what she said to set me off, but really, I was just sick of listening to her whiny voice all the time and you really couldn't have asked me to just stand there as she degraded you in every way possible, could you?"

Hermione sighed and chewed her sandwich as she thought about it.

"No," she finally said, reluctantly, "I guess I can't ask you to just stand there and hear my name be slandered in every way possible."

"Exactly," he smirked.

"But you didn't have to get so defensive either," she told him.

"Hermione!" he exclaimed, "just please drop it! I'm going to defend you whether you like it or not, now let's eat in peace."

Hermione bit her lip and looked down at the plate, eating silently. Draco bit an apple roughly and stared at her intently.

"Hermione," he finally said, "I'm sorry. I know I'm being a huge ass right now."

"Oh, you can't even begin to fathom how big of an ass you're being right now, Draco Malfoy," Hermione scoffed. "I mean, I don't even know what I'm still doing in here."

"Waiting for me to come begging for forgiveness?" Draco said meekly. "I will. I'll throw myself down at your feet and just plead until you either forgive me or my heart is wrenched out of me and you demand me to be away from your presence forevermore."

"You don't have to be that dramatic," Hermione sighed. "Just, check your temper when you're talking to me."

"From here on out," Draco promised. She smiled and shook her head, amused at how quickly Draco could go from being a moody teenager to a content child.

"Ready for class then?" Draco asked her.

"How many more minutes do we have in lunch?" Hermione asked him.

"Um, I believe we have fifteen more minutes until lunch has ended," he told her.

"I guess we can just walk there together, no?" Hermione looked at him. Draco just shrugged and got up.

"You want to risk it?" he asked her.

"Why the hell not," Hermione finally said. "If anyone asks, we're both going the same way."

"That-a girl," he laughed and pulled her out of her seat. "Just you wait, once everyone knows you as Amelia, we'll be able to hang out wherever we want, whenever we want. After all, the Pucey's and the Malfoy's have always been as thick as theives."

She rolled her eyes and laughed as they stepped out of the room and walked to Transfiguration.

They walked a little away from each other, so it wouldn't look quite as if they were together, and continued conversing in their mind. Draco sighed and looked up in contentment, feeling as if everything were right in the world.


	9. Chapter 9 Hogsmeade

**Disclaimer: Not mine, though I do believe we know that by now.**

**A/N i've just been short chapters lately, but I guess that my story decided that there needed more interaction seen between Cedric and Hermione. So, I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing this. :)**

**And remember, reviews make the world go round.**

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Chapter Nine Hogsmeade

That Friday, Hermione grabbed her jacket and ran to go look for Harry. They were going to Hogsmeade and she wanted to take him out of his room. Ever since he had been named champion, Harry had skulked around the castle, avoiding people as much as he could. Well, his pity party had come to an end.

"Harry," Hermione walked right into the boy's dormitory and Harry looked up in surprise. "Come on, we're going to Hogsmeade."

"Hermione, I don't feel like going. Why don't you just go with someone else?" he said.

"Harry, you're being such a child with this. Come on. If you want, you can have your invisibility cloak on, but one way or another, you're getting some fresh air. Please, don't make me endure a trip with Nathaniel and Lisa," she pleaded.

Harry sighed reluctantly and trudged out of bed. He grabbed his jacket, scarf and most importantly, his invisibility cloak. They made their way out of the tower and just before they got to the checkout, Harry threw on his cloak. He kept close to Hermione so no one would stumble on him by accident. They got into one of the last carriages and sat there silently as it went down the trail.

"Hey, Hermione," Harry said and Hermione looked over in his general direction.

"Yeah?"

"Why Malfoy?" he asked.

"I don't quite understand what you're asking Harry," Hermione said slowly.

"What I mean to say is, why did you chose to be friends with Malfoy. I mean, even now?" he rephrased his question.

"Well, when I met Draco, I didn't know anything about the wizarding world and we just," she hesitated a little, trying to figure how to explain their initial meeting with out giving anything away. "We met each other at preschool. Apparently, his tutor had quit not that long before and so his mother had to enroll him into a muggle preschool. It's the best in the area it was in and she said that she wouldn't have some no-good tutor for her son. Well, that first day, Draco decided that we were going to be best friends forever." she laughed and looked up at the sky. "Back then that didn't seem so ridiculous. Now, however," she sighed and looked at her clasped hands. "I'm friends with him even now so that people can see that their stupid prejudices shouldn't be taken seriously. Just because we thought of each other one way before doesn't mean that we should allow those ideas to consume our very lives and how we treat people."

"There's always an ulterior motive with you, isn't there?" Harry laughed.

She smiled and they continued their trip in silence.

"How is, everything else?" Hermione asked him. "I mean, life has gotten considerably a lot more difficult for you since you were chosen as a champion."

"Really Hermione? I had no idea, thanks for mentioning it," he said sarcastically. Hermione's face flushed in anger and she shut up.

Harry sighed and looked over at her from under the cloak. It probably wasn't fair of him to be so rude towards her, but not talking to Ron was leaving him really frustrated. Now, with the task coming up, Harry was just about ready to explode. He had no idea what he would even begin to do for the first task. He just hoped he wouldn't make a fool of himself.

"Are you all set for tonight?" Hermione asked him suddenly. "I mean, we need to clear out the room before Sirius comes to talk to you."

"Oh, right. Yeah. If worst comes to shove, I'll just use something that Fred and George lent me," Harry said. How did Hermione always know when to rescue him from his slumps?

The carriage slowed to a stop and they both got off. Hermione wound her scarf tightly around herself and pulled her beanie low.

"So, I was wondering if you want to go to Three Broomsticks?" Hermione asked lowly.

"I'm not going anywhere near Ron," Harry muttered angrily.

"Oh, we won't sit anywhere near him," she snapped. "I'm so over trying to make you two talk to each other. You can deal with each other however you want, whenever you want."

"Fine," Harry agreed and they made their way over. Hermione stopped every once in awhile to say hello to someone and Harry stood there impatiently. They finally walked into the pub and found a table in the corner. From there, Harry could see everyone. There was the git Ron with Seamus, Dean and the Weasley twins. Malfoy was hanging out with Blaise, Pansy and his sister. Towards the other corner was Raven with some blonde, blue eyed girl with some interesting stuff on. She had radishes for earring and was wearing a necklace with a butter beer cap on it. Her outfit was some insane black coat and a colorful looking beanie. He had no idea who this girl was, and yet, at the same time, she looked so familiar. Hermione went to go order a butter beer and came back. Harry sighed wistfully, wishing he could have one, but it would seem weird for Hermione to have two.

"Oh Harry," Hermione whispered, "look, there's Hagrid and Professor Moody." she waved at them and they made their way over to her.

"Nice cloak, Potter," Moody growled softly.

"You can see me?" Harry looked at him in surprise and Moody tapped near his electric, blue eye.

"Not much can get past this eye," he chuckled a little menacingly.

"Harry," Hagrid whispered in Harry's general direction. Harry looked over at him and Hagrid continued. "Meet me at my hut tonight at midnight, got something to show you."

"Um, okay," he said, a bit confused at how Hagrid was acting. Hagrid smiled at them and stood up.

"Well, see you later Hermione," Hagrid said a little loudly.

"Bye, Hagrid," she said meekly and the two professors walked away. Hermione sighed and looked down at the napkin. "What was that about?" she asked.

"Hell if I know," Harry laughed softly.

"I don't know if you should meet him tonight, Harry. You'll be cutting it close with your other meeting," Hermione reminded him.

"I know," he sighed. "But I'll just leave early if it takes to long."

Hermione sighed and looked around.

"Hey, Hermione, I'm just going to leave, so I'll just see you up at the castle," Harry whispered and Hermione nodded. He sighed and got up, leaving behind a crowd of some teenagers.

Just as Harry left the Three Broomsticks, Cedric sat down next to Hermione.

"Hey," he grinned and Hermione looked up in surprise.

"Oh, Cedric, hi. How are you?" she asked him.

"I'm good," he said. "Saw you sitting by yourself and Liam just left with a couple of people so I decided to give you some company. You looked a little lonesome."

She laughed and they continued talking.

"Hey, Ron, there's that bloke again," Dean said, poking Ron on the side. He looked over and saw Hermione with that idiot Hufflepuff bloke.

"Why is she here with him?" he asked in disbelief.

"Well, at least it's here and not Madame Puddifoot's," George sniggered and Fred choked on his drink, trying not to laugh.

"Shut up you prat," Ron muttered. He turned to look where Hermione was at and saw how she kept laughing. Why the hell was this guy next to Hermione? Probably just trying to see if Hermione might know anything about the first task.

"Whatever, Hermione doesn't care about him," Ron said, trying to believe it himself.

"Doesn't look like that to me," Fred sniggered. "Seems like Cedric really knows how to keep up the conversation with Mio. Probably just since they're both nerds."

All of them started laughing, but Ron was glowering over at them.

"Lighten up, mate," Seamus roared, laughing, and hit his back. "Let her have some fun for once in her life."

Cedric turned to where all the ruckus was at and saw a table with the Weasley twins.

"Should've known they would be behind this," he laughed. "The Weasley twins know how to work a crowd."

"Yeah, though not in ways that they should," Hermione said disapprovingly.

"Is that sulking bloke their brother or something?" he asked her.

"Oh, that's Ronald, and yes he is. Maybe they're teasing him about something. Like that Fleur girl," Hermione smiled. "You should've seen him when she came over and asked him if he was done with his pudding. He seemed to have lost his tongue at the moment."

"Well, I wouldn't be surprised if she were using her Veela abilities," Cedric said nonchalantly.

"She really is a veela?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah. At the weighing of our wands, she mentioned that the Veela hair used in her wand was from her dead grandmother or something like that," Cedric shrugged. "But Ollivander was right. Veela hair really does make for unstable wands."

"I guess he would know," Hermione shrugged and finished off her butterbeer. "Do you want to go somewhere?"

"Um, yeah sure. That would be nice," Cedric said, surprised.

"All right, come on," Hermione got off her stool and they left the place.

"Oh no ickle Ronnikins," George squealed out. "Your beloved Hermione has left with the big bad wolf."

"Shut up," Ron muttered, exasperated and left the premises. He scowled and pulled the scarf up towards his nose, the air biting at him. He saw Hermione walking a little further ahead with that bloody git, Cedric. He stood there, wondering if he should follow them or not, and finally he started walking.

Hermione had an arm linked with Cedric so he could help her walk. The snow was thick now and it was difficult for her to keep lifting her feet.

"Let's step into Honeydukes," Cedric said and she agreed. She would've gone into Zonko's at the moment, if only it meant getting out of the snow. They walked over to where the liquorice wands and the sugar quills where.

"Oh, these are one of my favorites," Hermione gasped and knelt down to get some of the quills. Cedric laughed softly and grabbed some of the chocolate frogs above them.

"Do you collect the cards?" he asked Hermione.

"Oh no," she shook her head. "That's left to Harry and Ron. I think, Harry is catching up to Ron on how many they have. Oh, would you like to go to Tomes and Scrolls next? I need some new reading material."

"Yeah, sure," Cedric agreed. It seemed fair to him that she should pick out a place, seeing as he had chosen to go into Honeydukes. "Would you like to step into the quill shop afterwards," he teased.

"Haha," Hermione grinned and they made their way over to the register.

"Let me pay for this," Cedric said.

"You don't have to," Hermione told him, wanting to pay for her quills.

"I know, but I want to. And if it helps, you can pay for whatever I get at Tomes and Scrolls, deal?" he looked at her.

"Deal," she laughed and they set their things on the counter. Cedric fished out his money and paid for their items. The person behind the counter bagged them and handed the purchased items to Cedric.

"All right, let's hurry over to Tomes and Scrolls, the wind is freezing," Cedric joked as they stepped outside. Neither of them noticed the figure following behind.

Ron felt a burning rage in the pit of his stomach. How come Hermione was finding it so easy to hang out with this guy? She should be walking over to the castle right now, alone since none of her two best friends were hanging out with her.

_Ah, maybe you've forgotten all about Malfoy,_ his mind snickered.

"Shut up!" Ron muttered. His face contorted into a grimace as he recalled that Hermione was apparently friends with the slimy bastard. Now that he thought about it, he didn't know who to hate more. Malfoy for being a slimy git who just forced himself into everything and made Hermione feel better, or Cedric for capturing Hermione so easily, making her laugh, for just having the perfect everything and being able to pay for things that Hermione wanted. Why did he have to be so poor?

Another burst of Hermione's laughter caught his attention and Ron looked up in time to see them step into the bookstore.

"Damn it," he muttered angrily. There was no way he would be able to step in there. If Hermione were to see him, what kind of excuse could he make? He was Christmas shopping in November? That sounded stupid even in his head. "Damn it Hermione," he swore again and regrettably made his way back to the castle.

Hermione was in heaven. The library was running low on books she hadn't read yet and she really wanted some extra reading material on Ancient runes. Plus, there had been some interesting things that Professor Binns had mentioned during the Goblin Wars.

"Cedric, she called out, looking for him.

"Yeah?" his head popped out in the Charms section.

"Just wondering if you were almost done," she said.

"Um, yeah, hold on a sec," he grabbed a book and went over to where she was at.

"All right," Hermione grinned at him and went to the clerk.

"Ah, Miss Granger, how are you today?" the man asked her.

"Good, thank you Mr. Valdez," Hermione smiled. "It'll just be these for today," she told him, putting the books on the counter.

Mr. Valdez smiled at her and looked over to the young man standing next to her.

"And who might this young man be?" Mr. Valdez asked her.

"Oh, right, this is Cedric Diggory," Hermione smiled.

"Well young man, don't you go around hurting our lovely Miss Granger here," he said in a teasing manner, smiling as he saw the two teens blush.

"Of course not," Cedric laughed. Hermione quickly paid for the books and they left the store, making their way back to Hogwarts.

"Well, this is something we'll have to do again sometime," Cedric said, once they reached the castle and were inside, nice and warm.

"Yeah, that would be nice," she smiled. She handed him his book and waved goodbye, not noticing the money he discreetly slipped into her jacket pocket.

Hermione trudged up the steps and said the password to get in. She saw Harry sitting in front of the fire and looked at the time. It was only eight o'clock.

"Hey Harry," she said and sat down next to him. He looked over at her in surprise. "Well?"

"I'm just waiting to go to Hagrid's," Harry sighed. "I have my cloak under me and well, we'll see what I'll do when I get back."

"I could keep it empty for you," Hermione offered. "I have some things to read, so I'll be fine," she told him before he could say no. "Anyways, I'll be up for awhile. So it just makes sense that I help a little."

"Thanks, Hermione," Harry said and smiled. "So, what did you do when I left?"

Hermione laughed and began telling him.

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**A/N2:Don't expect all my chapters to come this fast. :( Sorry if there were any mistakes, sadly, i cannot get them all.**


	10. Consequences of Midnight Meetings

**Disclaimer: Check my previous chapters**

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed my story. Each of them makes me smile and I'm glad to hear that you are enjoying my story. :)**

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Chapter Ten Consequences of Midnight Meetings

At ten to 12, Harry slid out of the common room, with Hermione's help. Hermione closed the portrait once she heard the faint 'Thanks' from him. She sighed and sat down on the couch. She pulled out her Ancient Runes book and opened it out. After ten minutes, the letters were fuzzy and she sighed, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

_Hermione? _Draco's voice invaded her weary brain and Hermione sat up, alert.

_What's up? _she asked him.

_Nothing, I was just awake and bored. Then, I thought, hey maybe my best friend is awake, _he told her. Hermione laughed softly and shook her head. _Saw you with that Diggory guy. How'd that go?_

Hermione rolled her eyes and curled up on the couch. She was sure that if he were face to face with her, his voice would be a little bitter. Even from here she could imagine his discomfort on this topic.

_It was fine I guess. I mean, we just went to Honeydukes and Tomes and Scrolls, _Hermione sighed.

_Merlin's beard! You dragged that poor bloke in there? Wow, if he went without a fight, he must really fancy you, _Draco laughed.

_We're just friends, _Hermione pouted.

_Whatever you say girl, _he said and Hermione could imagine him snickering.

_Well, I'm glad you find this so entertaining, _she sulked.

_Look, are you busy right now? _Draco asked her.

_Not for long, _Hermione smirked.

_Okay, when you can meet me you know where, _he told her.

His pressure faded from her head and Hermione laid her head down. Why did life have to be so hard? She knew she was always asking that question, especially with her being the brain of the trio. Becoming friends with Harry Potter had definitely led Hermione to an interesting way of life. Even more so since she wasn't who everyone thought she was and her best friend's dad was a death eater. All in all, life just wasn't in the least bit giving her any slack.

"Oh Merlin, what am I ever going to do?" she murmured.

"You really should not be out at this hour," she heard the Fat Lady say and smiled in relief when Harry came in. She looked up at the clock and saw that it was only thirty minutes past 12. Where had the time gone?

"Hey Hermione," Harry said in a disgruntled voice. "Um, can we just talk about the meeting tomorrow? Please," he asked before she could say anything.

"Yeah Harry," Hermione nodded. "Now, if you don't mind, I have somewhere to be."

He nodded and was surprised to see her exit the House rather than go up to bed.

Hermione sighed in relief and quickly walked through the halls. She needed to be careful and make sure that no one who was patrolling would catch her.

"Bloody hell, she whispered, after she bumped her toe on a corner for the thousandth time that night. Finally, she arrived in front of the portrait to get into the Room of Requirement. She closed her eyes and walked by, thinking to herself about wanting hers' and Draco's room. She stopped and opened her eyes, face to face with a door. She sighed and opened it, a low fire already crackling away. Draco was sitting on one of the couches, watching the ceiling change.

He looked up when the door closed and grinned lazily.

"Hey," he said. Hermione smiled at him and went to sit down.

"How was your trip at Hogsmeade?" she asked him.

"Good," Draco nodded. "Autumn was pissed the whole time since Raven ditched her to go hang out with Lovegood."

"Ouch," Hermione winced. "Let me guess, did they stay up, yelling at each other about how they shouldn't hang out with other people and yet about how Autumn is always standing Raven up in some way?"

"Actually, no they didn't. Autumn tried to say something, but Raven just brushed it off. Telling her that she was at this school to make friends, not be a dog who is kept on a short leash," Draco laughed.

Hermione gasped and looked at him, hoping that he was kidding.

"How did Autumn take that?" she asked him when he didn't negate it.

"She just stood there, slack-jawed, not wanting to believe that Raven had just said that to her," Draco shrugged. "Honestly, I was glad that Raven finally stood up to her. Autumn is a bitch and a half to her a lot. I don't know why she tolerated it for so long."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see how this goes," Hermione muffled a giggle. Draco arched in eyebrow in surprise.

Well as long as they kept talking about his sister's problems, it would be fine with him. He did _not, _want to hear about anything that might have happened with Diggory. Damn, why couldn't he and Hermione just hang out without anyone saying shit. Oh yeah, because of that stupid, bloody pureblood superiority and all that other stuff. And of course, Hermione got stuck as a muggle born witch, when in all actuality, she was as much a pureblood as himself.

"Draco, you're wandering off again," Hermione said, poking him none too gently on his side.

"Sorry," he shook his head and looked down at her. "Just two more months of this nonsense and then, we can finally hang out in public."

"Yeah, we might as well just hang out all the time after everyone finds out who I am," Hermione rolled her eyes.

Draco frowned and turned her face so that she could look at him.

"Have you even asked them how everything would be between you guys?" he asked her.

"No. as you have noticed, Harry and Ron aren't even talking to each other and Harry's just freaking out about the first task. I don't need to worry them with even more things," Hermione sighed. "I already know how Ron is going to be. After all, he hasn't even accepted our friendship yet. He constantly argues with me when I even mention your name and whenever he even says your name, it's usually followed by profanities or insults."

She crossed her arms and turned her head to the side so that Draco could see only her profile.

"Hermione, they can't just believe that your only problems are trying to solve theirs," Draco said, exasperated.

"Well, believe it Draco, because that is exactly how they think," Hermione snapped. "I don't know why."

Draco held her to him and Hermione closed her eyes. He rubbed her back, knowing that she was crying silently.

"Well then, I guess your friendship with them is going to be tested soon," he murmured. "If I know one things, it's this. We'll hang out with you no matter what and no matter for how long. We'll drag you all over Hogsmeade and teach you how to fly properly, until you won't even remember about how much of an ass Potter and Weasley are being towards you."

He felt Hermione's body shaking and looked down to see her laughing softly. He grinned and she sat up.

"So, don't even worry your pretty little head about how they'll act. Even if you lose them, you'll have this devilishly handsome creature right next to you as your official best friend," Draco told her.

Hermione burst out laughing and swatted his chest. Draco faked a look of hurt and she stopped.

"The only creature I see here is this pesty, annoying bloke who cares too much for his looks," she giggled.

"Hey now, that isn't nice Miss Granger," Draco scolded her.

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes and laid back. "Did you do the homework for History of Magic?"

"No," Draco snorted. "We leave the brains to you. Anyways, don't we have another two days to write the essay?"

"Yes, but you forget that Professor Snape is also wanting our essays back that day also," Hermione reminded him.

Draco looked at her and waited for her to say that she was kidding.

"Merlin, are you serious?" he groaned and dropped his head back. "Well, I guess that this means that Blaise and I are going to need to steal you away from your friends for awhile."

"Draco, how about you two try and do this by yourself?" Hermione told him.

"Look, we'll bring the information necessary and have rough drafts, but please, help us," Draco pleaded.

Hermione sighed and looked over at him.

"Fine," she groaned, "but I need you to do something for me."

She smiled sinisterly and he swallowed nervously.

"As long as it doesn't include with me getting hurt again," he winced.

Hermione began laughing and shook her head.

"No," she told him. "Look, just get Harry mad at you and if he attacks, you try to hit him with the _Densaugeo_ spell. Do it so that the spells will ricochet off of each other. I'll handle the rest."

"You really should've been put into Slytherin, you sly witch," Draco laughed.

"Well, it's not like I'm going to keep these bloody braces forever," Hermione said. He grinned at her and shook his head.

"Once we can hang out, I swear, Potter and Weasley can just forget about you. We could use a smart and sneaky witch like you," Draco grinned. "Everyone will just die of jealously. In our new trio, we'll have the ever beautiful, Amelia Pucey, the forever devilishly handsome Draco Malfoy and the Italian ladies man, Blaise Zabini."

"Italian ladies man, that's the best you can come up with?" Hermione scoffed.

"Oh, and what would you propose?" he asked her.

"Oh, I don't know, he's my cousin," she scowled. "But you can't forget about Raven or Autumn."

"Yeah, well, we're the core part of this little group, so whatever," Draco said.

Hermione sighed and laid her head on him.

"Why are you so much more nicer than Harry or Ron?" she murmured.

Draco faked a gasp and put his hand on his chest.

"I find that quite offensive, miss. How dare you even try to compare me to them," he scoffed.

Hermione smiled and said nothing.

"I'm a pureblood sweetheart. I have manners of a civilized person," he teased.

"That's what you think," she giggled and yawned.

"You want me to take you to your house?" Draco asked her.

Hermione shook her head and nestled closer to him.

"Just leave me here," she muttered and fell asleep. Draco smiled softly and kissed her forehead before letting sleep overtake him too.

Blaise woke up to someone hitting him with a pillow. He groaned and looked up at a very angry Malfoy.

"Where the hell is my brother?" Autumn growled at him. Blaise groaned and looked over to Draco's bed.

"He isn't back yet?" he asked her.

"Back from where?" Autumn asked him, placing her hands on her hips. "Would you like to explain to me why my brother isn't here?"

"Look, he said he had some important person to go meet, so I just assumed that he was going to speak briefly with," he rolled his eyes, "that _one _person."

Autumn scowled and looked at her watch.

"Well, when you see him, tell him that he should count himself lucky I'm here to ward off Pansy," she scowled and left.

Blaise sighed and looked over at his clock. It was only 6.30.

"Damn it Malfoy," he swore.

"Now, I know that that is towards me and not my sister, but that at the same time, I actually didn't hear that," someone drawled and Blaise looked over at the door to see a bedraggled Draco.

"Dude, I'll kill you if you slept with her," Blaise warned. Draco looked at him disgustedly and shook his head.

"Do tell me why that was your first thought?" he asked him and walked in to change his clothes.

"Well, you stayed with her all damn night. Of course I'm going to think that," Blaise snapped.

"Dude, she's like, my fucking best friend. I'm not going to sleep with her," Draco snapped at him.

"Whatever," he chuckled lightly as he left the room, leaving his friend to Pansy's attack and screeches.

Hermione slipped up the stairs and quietly walked into her dormitory. Thankfully, the girls inside were still sleeping, oblivious, or so she thought, to her sneaking out and staying out all night. Oh she could hear the rumors already.

The once upon a time brunette shuddered and threw her hair up, doing some quick touch ups with her make up and ran out to the Great Hall. Arithmancy would be starting in half an hour and she needed to get a quick breakfast first.

"Well, Granger, I never assumed to count you among the giggling girls with their nightly conquest," a familiar voice came from the common room.

Hermione looked over in surprise to see George standing there with an apple in his hand.

"George!" she said in surprise.

"Hermione!" he mocked her. "So, how come you never told us about this fabulous boy toy of yours. Now, that isn't the smart witch we all know and love."

Fred came downstairs at this point, interested in the conversation.

"I'm sorry, did I miss something?" he looked at them both. "I thought I just heard George, strangely confess a love even I didn't know about."

Hermione was blushing furiously, trying to get away from them.

"Um, I have to go get a quick breakfast you guys, so if you please," she scooted around George and nearly ran out the portrait.

"We aren't done with this conversation, missy!" George yelled down the hall after her.

Hermione saw people look at her strangely after George's last comment and made a mental note to get back at him. How dare he put her on the spot like that.

**Well, you were the one who stayed out late, **her brain laughed at her and Hermione scowled. She pulled a strand of her behind her ear and straightened her face before entering the Great Hall. She was in no way going to let him get at her.

"Hey Granger," Lisa sat down next to her. Hermione looked over at her and smiled.

"Hi, Lisa, how are you?" she asked pleasantly.

"Eh, I'm fine, though no so much my brother," she muttered.

"What, why?" Hermione looked surprised. Nathaniel was known to be stoic and passionate about his studies. It was no wonder that he had landed in Ravenclaw.

"He thinks he saw you and Malfoy walk out of some room early in the morning, and then, when he drags me there, there is no bloody door! I think he's gone mental," she shook her head.

Hermione gaped at her, astonished that anyone had even seen them.

"Well, what a ridiculous notion," she laughed, a little hysterically. Luckily, Lisa didn't notice anything.

"Hermione looks a little frazzeled," Raven commented to Blaise as they saw her walk out of the hall to her first class. Blaise looked up to see his cousin muttering to herself and holding her books to her chest as a shield.

"I guess her morning was as bad as Draco's," he smirked, serving himself some pumpkin juice.

"Why do you say that?" Raven looked at him, confused.

"Pansy attacked him this morning, for not being in his bed last night. Here she is, trying to seduce him and he's not even there," Blaise chuckled.

Raven started laughing and choked on her drink.

"Well, I guess that's what they get for trying to keep everything on the down low," Raven finally said.

"You can't really blame them," Luna's dreamy voice was behind them. Raven turned around and smiled.

"Bye Blaise," she waved at him and left with the eccentric blonde. Blaise shook his head and continued eating.

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**A/N I am aware of the fact that Harry and Draco fight outside of Snape's class the next day that Harry was chosen as champion, but just go with the flow. I needed to put it somewhere that would help my story along, not hinder it. :) Sorry for any mistakes you might have seen in it. All of these chapters are un-beta'd, so I just make do.**


	11. Chapter 11 Confrontations

**Disclaimer: Do we need to go through this again?**

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and favorited my story, hope you enjoy this chapter. :)**

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Chapter Eleven Confrontations

Hermione made her way to Care of Magical Creatures, Harry walking beside her like a zombie. He had gotten to class late, but had told Hermione that he would talk to her later. Whatever was keeping him silent was probably the same thing that had made him late. She readjusted her strap for the millionth time that morning and stood next to Harry as they waited for Hagrid to come out. Hermione fidgeted where she stood and wished Harry would say something, anything.

"A'right e'rebody," Hagrid's voice boomed out as the Slytherins arrived, "since the wint'r is comin up, I decide that we're gonna see if the skrewts like to hibernate. So, get to your boxes and with your partners."

Draco sauntered over to where Hermione was and Harry mind numbingly walked over to Millicent.

Hermione saw Rita Skeeter coming over and scowled. That woman was trouble and would never bother reporting the truth. Not she would ever see it even if it danced naked on her nose. Hermione shook her head and dismissed the woman from her thoughts. Who cared what she said, she and Harry were not in a relationship. Even if it didn't stop people from taunting her, Pansy in particular. Who, now that she thought about it, was treating her a lot more harshly.

"So, do you want to start or should I?" Draco sneered lightly.

"Who cares," Hermione muttered and they both tried to look upset about being there. "Nathaniel saw us this morning," she whispered to him as they focused intently on covering the inside of the box.

"What happened?" he asked her.

"Nothing thankfully. He tried to tell Lisa, but thank goodness there was no door there, so now she thinks he's a nutter. Careful!" she exclaimed and pulled his hand away just as their skrewt tried to stab his hand.

Draco stared in surprise as the skrewt waved its stinger in there air madly and finally noticed that Hermione's hand was still on his.

"Um, thanks," he muttered and pushed her hand off.

"Oh, sorry," she pulled her hand away completely and they stood there awkwardly. They watched as it became more agitated by the second until finally, Hermione yelled,

"Hagrid, I don't think they like this!"

It's end exploded and Hermione shrieked, along with others as their skrewts exploded.

Draco pulled her away and shielded her as the box exploded and the pieces went flying everywhere. Everyone started running around and several students found themselves in Hagrid's hut. Draco looked around and was surprised to see that Hermione was still out there with a few other Gryffindors, trying to capture all the other skrewts. He sighed and turned towards the pumpkin patch when he heard screaming. He walked over and saw all the girls spazzing out over one of the smaller skrewts. He sighed and froze it with the _Petrificus Totalus. _Some of the girls winked over at him and he just ignored them, flicking his wand again to carry it over to Hagrid.

"Here's one of your stupid things," he grumbled. He saw Hermione look up at him and duck her head so that no one would see her smile towards him. He cleared his throat and threw it with all the others, fighting the flush that threatened to spread over his face.

"Class dismissed!" Hagrid yelled out and everyone ran off.

Hermione passed by Draco and whispered a quick thanks to him. He couldn't stop the smirk and blew past Potter to get to Divination.

Hermione made her way towards the library when she realized that someone was following her. She stopped and looked behind, expecting to see Draco and was caught off guard as someone threw themselves on her.

"Stay away from Draco!" she heard Pansy shriek and threw her arms up to her face to block her nails. "He's mine, you bitch."

"What are you talking about?" Hermione managed to ask and threw the Slytherin girl off. She quickly stood up and Pansy got up to her face.

"I saw you grab his hand," she hissed and slapped her across the face.

"Anyone see Pansy?" Theo whispered as they sat down on the poufs. Draco looked around and frowned.

Where was that psycho?

Hermione's hands flew up to her cheek and she looked at Pansy in surprise.

"It was class, you dumb bimbo!" Hermione told her. "The skrewt was going to sting him."

"Oh shut up!" Pansy snarled and threw another slap. Hermione ducked and pushed the girl back. "I know you've been panting after Draco since our first year!

Draco felt panic flood his mind and he gasped inaudibly.

Hermione!

Hermione dropped her bag and ducked as Pansy tried to hit her in the face again. She kicked her leg out and sent her sprawling out.

"Get away from me," Hermione cried out. "And why would I want Malfoy?"

The delusional girl swung up with her leg and Hermione fell down. Before she could stand up, her breath was knocked out as Pansy kicked her in the stomach.

"You keep your filthy mudblood hands away from my Draco," she hissed, grabbing a fistful of Hermione's hair and puling her face close to hers. Hermione spat at her and punched her in the nose, hard.

"MY NOSE!" Pansy shrieked and staggered back, stars crossing her vision. Hermione stood up and smoothed out her uniform.

"Stop being such a jealous prat," she told the girl. "It's not an attractive quality." She turned around and reluctantly made her way to the closet bathroom, needing to see how much damage Pansy had inflicted. She winced at the sight of her now bushy hair and the cut on her lip. Her cheek was still a little red from the slap and her nails had made three scratches on her neck.

"Oh, bloody hell," she whispered when she saw that one of her buttons had come off from the fight.

_Hermione, are you okay? _Draco's panicked voice flooded her mind.

_I'm fine. Your stupid girlfriend, on the other hand, might not be,_ she sighed.

_What the hell happened? And Pansy is not my damn girlfriend,_ he muttered.

_Well, Pansy has some extensive injuries. She decided to attack me today, hoping to secure her spot as Draco Malfoy's number one stalker,_ Hermione giggled.

Draco groaned and Theo looked over at him.

"Hey, Malfoy, you okay there?" he asked him.

"Peachy," he grunted.

_Why? _he asked her.

_Well, she seems to harbor this theory that I'm trying to take you away from her, just because I grabbed your hand during Care of Magical Creatures, _Hermione told him lightly.

Draco's heart stuttered and he grabbed the hand she had held. Even in that class, he had gotten nervous when she continued holding it. It had tingled and all his attention had swarmed to that one single point, so he had pushed her hand away before anyone realized that the two arch enemies were being civil towards each other.

_Well, I guess I'll just see you later, _he sighed, wishing with all his heart that he could go see how Hermione was.

Hermione sighed and cast a small glamour charm to hide the slight bruising that Pansy had left on her. She muttered another one to heal her scratches and readjusted her hair.

"Damn crazy girls," she muttered angrily and made her way to the library. She went towards the back and sat down. "Great, now I only have twenty minutes to work." She grumbled to herself and decided on just reading a book for now.

Madame Pince walked over to her a little while later to remind the girl that lunch was beginning in just a few minutes.

"Thank you," Hermione smiled and put her book away. She grabbed her bag and stood up. Standing outside was Ginny.

"Holy shit!" Ginny exclaimed.

"What?" Hermione looked around and touched her face to see if any of her light bruises were showing.

"It's true what they're saying? You and Pansy got in a fight? Damn, you don't even look touched," Ginny said rapidly, looking at her friend.

"Who said that?" Hermione asked her. How did people already know about this?

"One of the ghosts saw you two rolling around. I thought it was all bull, but if you really fought her, I'm impressed," Ginny laughed, seeing her friend's discomfort. It was never hard to make Hermione nervous about anything. "Come on, let's see if that pug shows her face." Ginny snickered and dragged Hermione away.

"I understand that we don't like Pansy for obvious, but we shouldn't just insult her," Hermione frowned.

"Mio," Ginny said, using Harry's nickname for her, "those people live and breathe to insult you in any way."

"Well, we shouldn't stoop to their level," Hermione muttered. "Show them who's the better person."

"Yeah, and it also says you're a big fat chicken," Ginny laughed and pulled her through the doors and into the Great Hall.

Hermione noticed a lot of the kids get quiet when they saw her and others started talking more animatedly. She caught a quick peek over to the Slytherin table and saw that Pansy wasn't there. While some of them were glaring daggers at her, she noticed that a greater amount of the Slytherins looked amused.

"Should I be worried that a lot of them look okay with what I did?" Hermione whispered to Ginny as they sat down.

"No," Ginny snorted, "you should be glad. Maybe now, they'll respect you."

"I just wonder how Pansy is," Hermione muttered. "I mean, yeah, she totally deserved that, but I still feel bad."

Ginny laughed and shook her head.

"Girl, you have your priorities mixed up. You should be beyond pleased that you kicked her ass," Ginny chortled and drank some of the juice.

They saw Draco walk in and saw that he was, chuckling.

"Oh no," Hermione moaned and placed her head on the table.

"Hermione, Hermione!" Lavender and Parvarti ran over to her and sat down hurriedly.

"Pansy looks like crap!" Parvarti giggled.

"Well, yes she does look worse than usual," Lavender giggled. "So, did you two really fight each other?"

Hermione looked over at them and noticed that everyone around them was trying to listen in discreetly to their conversation.

"She attacked me first," Hermione muttered self-defensively. Someone burst out laughing behind her and she turned to see Harry there.

"Oh Mio, and here we all thought that you were our perfect, little, golden Lioness," Harry grinned and squeezed himself between Hermione and Ginny. He threw his arm over her shoulder in a brotherly affection and Hermione scowled at him.

"I'm still a Lioness, nonetheless," she sniffed in disdain. "Anyways, I'm not going to let anyone attack me and not fight back. That's just pathetic."

"Mio, you really are scary sometimes," Harry laughed. "Good thing you never had time to whip out your wand."

_Yeah, a pity you didn't,_ Draco's voice flooded her mind instantly. _You've freed me from that pathetic excuse of a Slytherin for a whole night. Though, if you had cast some spells on her, I do believe we never would've gotten her back the same._

Hermione smiled and ate a sandwich.

"Hermione, meet me in the common room when you can," Harry whispered lowly. Hermione looked at him worriedly, but noticed that, even though he still seemed tense as he had been all week, there was something else. Harry seemed to have a sense of calm, even through all of the worry.

"Sure Harry," she smiled at him.

He left quickly and not less then ten minutes later, Hermione was climbing the stairs to get to the dormitory. She wondered if Harry's even more bizarre behavior had anything to do with what he had gone to last night.

As she made her way up, she passed by Ron. She smiled and waved at him, only to be left there, Ron blowing past her and giving her the cold shoulder.

_Hmm, well that was odd, _she thought to herself, but shrugged it off. Whenever Ron got mad, he seemed to have a tendency to hate the whole world for awhile. She finally approached the Fat Lady and told her the password. The portrait opened up and she trudged inside, wishing that lunch was longer.

"Harry?" she called out and saw his messy jet black hair turn from the corner.

"Oh, hey Hermione, sorry to cut your lunch short," he said and bounded over to her. She looked at him, shocked by his happiness. Where had his bad mood gone off to?

"Harry, did you, by any chance, cast the cheering charm on yourself?" Hermione asked him.

"What? Oh, no. Look, I need your help with something," he told her.

"What do you need Harry?" Hermione asked him.

"I need you to help me learn the summoning charm," he grinned.

That night, Harry and Hermione walked down the empty hallways, under Harry's invisibility cloak, looking to find an isolated, empty classroom.

"I think we can use this one, Harry," Hermione whispered and they walked inside. "Okay."

Harry pulled the invisibility cloak off and Hermione moved some of the desks aside.

"Now, when you want to summon something, you have to have the object clearly in your head. There are people who say that the further an object is, the more difficult it is to summon the desired object," she put her hair up in a bun and pulled out a pillow. "I, on the other hand, think that you only need to focus intently on whatever it is you want." She set the pillow down on a table, less than a foot from Harry and turned to him. "Now, the incantation is, _Accio_."

"_Accio_," Harry parroted.

"Excellent," Hermione smiled at him. "Now, for your hand movement, you need to direct your wand to the object that you want to summon. Or, if it isn't in sight, you can say it's name. First though, we'll simply start with you saying the incantation and pointing your wand at the pillow."

Harry nodded and stared at the pillow.

"_Accio_," he said. The pillow lay there obstinately, taunting Harry as it simply lay there. Harry groaned and scowled at it.

"Don't worry Harry, it won't be something that you can get right off the bat," Hermione consoled him.

"Right," Harry nodded, "I need to do this." He shook off the first try and looked at the pillow, his stare threatening to burn a hole into the pillow. "_Accio_!"

The pillow shuddered and lifted slightly, but then fell back on the desk.

"Did you see that?" he asked her excitedly. Hermione smiled and nodded at him.

"That was really good Harry!" she laughed. "Now, just remember to keep on concentrating on the object."

Every night, they would find a classroom to work in, until finally, Professor McGonagall allowed them to use her classroom, as she was tired of finding them everywhere.

"Harry, let's just go to the common room," Hermione said one night, as Peeves threw things at them. He had entered the classroom and "assumed" that Harry wanted things flying towards him.

"Yeah," Harry agreed and they slipped out, leaving behind Peeves as he cackled at them. They climbed the stairs quietly and walked into their common room.

Hermione set up the room similar to how the classroom had been and set down the pillow.

"Okay, Harry. Go," she nodded at him.

"_Accio," _Harry pointed his wand at the pillow and it zoomed into his hands. "Hermione, I did it!"

"Good job Harry," Hermione smiled and fell on the couch. Harry looked at his clever friend and noticed how exhausted she looked.

"Thanks for all the help, Mio," he grinned and sat down next to her, throwing his arm over her shoulder.

"Well, at least we can lie and say that I was just giving you extra lessons for Charms," she grinned knowingly at him.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Harry, I'm very aware that you intend to use this spell for the first task to get your broomstick. I'm not dumb," she laughed.

"No, and I guess nothing really gets past you, now does it?" Harry replied.

"No, not really," she smiled. "So, the first task. What is it?"

"Dragons," Harry sighed. "Apparently, we need to get something from them.

"I'm guessing you told Cedric about this. That one day when you got to Herbology late?"

"Yeah, I saw him and had to warn him," Harry shrugged. "It seemed fair. Madame Maxime knew because Hagrid showed her when he showed me. That's why he wanted me to use my cloak, so she wouldn't know I was there. And then, as I ran back, I ran into Karkaroff. Thankfully I was still hidden, but anyways, I knew he was going to follow them. So, we were all going to know except for Cedric. Becuase the other contestents were going to be told by the Head of their schools and I just thought that was a little unfair."

"Hmm, well, there's only three more days until the first task. Hopefully, he'll know what he's doing," Hermione sighed.

"Mio, you worry too much," Harry told her.

"Only because you guys don't worry enough," she sighed and dozed off.

Harry shook his head and found a blanket. He covered her with it and made his way upstairs.

That morning, Hermione woke up and groaned when she saw she was downstairs.

"Oh great," she muttered and threw off the blanket. She ran upstairs and grabbed her things quickly, brushing her hair furiously and brushed her teeth before finally jolting out the door. She nearly ran to her first class and looked around the room. Only one seat was open, next to Draco.

He watched as she attempted to look as if she hadn't been in a rush and calmly strode over to his table. Hermione set her things on the table and pulled out her book and set her head on the table.

_Well, that's odd. Hermione never sleeps in class, much less this one, _Draco thought to himself.

"Hey," he poked her side, "Granger." He poked her harder and she mumbled something, sighing. Draco looked up to see if Professor Vector was still busy writing something on the board. "Hermione!" he hissed in her ear and threatened to bump her off her chair. Hermione squeaked and held Draco's arm before she could fall off. He smirked at her and Hermione scowled.

"What?" she asked him.

"You are aware that we are in class, right?" Draco said softly.

"Yeah," Hermione yawned and sat up. She rubbed her eyes and picked up her quill, writing down what the professor was talking about.

"Why are you so tired?" Draco muttered, looking to the front of the class. "Does this have to do with why we haven't been hanging out?"

"Why, is poor little Draco jealous?" Hermione pouted and looked at him wide eyes.

"Forget it," he grumbled and sat there.

"Stop sulking Draco," Hermione sighed. "Look, I've just been helping Harry with Charms homework. So, I'm fine, don't worry."

Draco looked over at her and saw her staring blankly at the front. Her hand kept writing and Draco saw that her handwriting was slightly messy.

"Granger, you need to get some sleep," Draco sighed and shook his head. Her so called friends pushed her to the limits and even further for them. What were they doing for her? In his opinion, absolutely nothing. All they did was ask for her homework, ask her to review their homework and to help them in whatever dangerous plot they were in for the year.

"Malfoy, if you don't loosen your grip, I'm pretty sure your quill is going to snap," Hermione sighed, pulling him from his dismal thoughts.

"What?" he looked over at her and she pointed to his quill. He looked down and loosened his grip on it.

"Yeah," she smiled and looked back up.

"All right then, look over your notes for the last two days and make sure you go over what you think is important. I will be testing you on those notes tomorrow," Professor Vector said and dismissed them.

"Oh, great," Draco muttered. "Hey, Granger, hold on."

Hermione stopped not to far from the class and looked at him.

"I'll be late for my next class, _Draco," _she told him.

"Okay, but hey look, I think you should just cut class and get some sleep," Draco sighed.

"I'm fine," Hermione snapped.

"Hermione, they're overworking you and you know it," Draco told her, growing irritated.

"I don't need a break and don't worry about me," she said.

"Don't worry? You were falling asleep in there!" Draco said, his voice rising.

"You're going to cause a scene," Hermione whispered, looking around.

"So what! Maybe then they'll try and convince you to go to sleep instead of pushing and forcing your body even further," he hissed and grabbed her arm.

"Malfoy!" Harry's voice caught their attention. Hermione sighed and shook her head, knowing what Harry was going to do. "Let her go."

"Why should I?" Draco sneered, letting her go anyways and focusing on Harry.

"Just leave her alone Malfoy," Harry muttered.

"Scared I'll take your precious Granger away from you? Then you'll be left like a fish out of water, flailing for someone to come and help you, to take her place," he looked pointedly at Hermione and Harry saw red.

"_Furnunculus!_" Harry yelled.

"_Densaugeo!_" Draco screamed. He smirked when he saw Hermione gasp, but Harry's attention remained focused on Draco.

Their spells hit each other midair, and ricocheted off at angles. Harry's hit an unsuspecting Ravenclaw and Draco's hit Hermione. The Ravenclaw screamed as boils burst up and Hermione whimpered, clutching her mouth in panic.

"Hermione!" Harry yelled and ran over to her. He dragged her hand from her mouth and saw her teeth were growing at an alarming rate.

"What in the world is going out here?" Professor Vector stepped outside and saw the crowd forming. She looked at them and narrowed her eyes. "Explain."

"Potter and Malfoy attacked each other!" Lisa cried out, pointing at them. "They got Marietta and Hermione."

Professor Vector looked over and sighed.

"Granger, Edgecomb, go to the Hospital wing," she sighed.

Marietta ran off and Hermione winked discreetly at Draco before turning on her heel and ran all the way to the Hospital Wing. She burst in, her robe over her mouth so that she could hide her teeth from everyone else.

"Madame Pomfrey!" she exclaimed. The old nurse looked up from where she attending Marietta and sighed at the sight of Hermione.

"Let's see," she shook her head and went over to her. Hermione put her robe down and Madame Pomfrey tsked at the sight. "Well, fixing this shouldn't be too difficult. Come here girl, I'll need to take these metal contraptions off first."

Hermione walked over and stood still as the nurse took off the braces.

"I'm getting a mirror for the rest. It's enchanted to shrink things, so just look in and tell me when your teeth are back to normal," Madame Pomfrey told her and walked to her office to get said mirror.

Hermione sat down and waited for her to come back. once she did, she looked in. She watched wide eyed as they began to shrink and smiled once they got more normal. They went past how they had been before and her teeth straightened themselves out slowly.

"I think that should do it," she grinned and Madame Pomfrey nodded, putting it down.

"Stay here for a little, I need to make sure that they stay like that and see if there was anything else that was in the spell," Madame Pomfrey said and Hermione nodded. The woman went back to the other girl and Hermione laid down smiling as sleep overtook her.

Draco sat in the back of class and smiled to himself when he felt Hermione's thoughts slow down and everything indicated that she was sleeping.

"Malfoy, you're creeping out everyone," Blaise whispered and Draco looked up. Just as Blaise as had said, people were watching him strangely.

"What?" he snapped at them, his good mood going out the window. They all turned around in shock and kept their faces towards the front. Draco grumbled to himself and took out his Transfiguration homework.

"You already finished that?" Blaise whispered.

"I had time on my hands," he shrugged, not wanting to tell him that he had spent the majority of his nights to see if Hermione would appear. He knew that she knew how mad he was that they hadn't been talking, especially since she wouldn't give him any reason for her distance.

"Well, obviously you had too much time on your hands," Blaise snickered. Draco grunted and sat there, looking it over. What was he going to do now for Care of Magical Creatures? Hermione was probably going to sleep all day and honestly, he knew that Madame Pomfrey would let her.

**Dear Hermione,** he stopped and thought. **I hope you get what you wanted. See, now you got what you wanted and I got what I wanted. Compromises aren't difficult to make. Well, now that you're well rested, I hope you quit pushing yourself. All this dedication is going to damage you. Breathe, relax, have fun. Miss you.**

"Who's that for?" Blaise tried to look.

"No one," Draco muttered and put it away. He'd send it later. Not yet. She needed some relaxation for now. He smiled again and waited for them to be dismissed.

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**A/N: So, does anyone want to see the two girls fight again? :)**


	12. Chapter 12 Dragons

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

**Sorry for the long wait. I had to refresh my memory on this part. Hope you enjoy it. :)  
**

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Chapter Twelve Dragons

Hermione woke up and walked down to dinner.

_I cannot believe she just let me sleep through the whole day! _she exclaimed to herself. Madame Pomfrey had woke her up to tell her that it was dinner time and that she could go now.

"Granger!" she heard someone call out and turned, scowling. There were people all around, what was he doing?

"What do you want Malfoy?" she asked him.

"Just thought I'd give you the news that we're stuck together as partners for Ancient Runes," he sneered. "Much to my displeasure."

"Great, that's all I need. To see you even more," she scoffed and turned her back on him, walking down the stairs.

"Whatever, you nerd," he muttered and stalked away.

_Really? That was the best you could do? You nerd, _Hermione teased him lightly as she continued towards the dormitory.

Hermione walked on, not wanting to be around people and sat down on the couch. There was a fire burning already and Hermione took out her potions book. Snape wanted them to learn their antidotes and Hermione could guess that he was going to test them on this eventually. She was humming to herself, feeling relaxed for the first time this year and was jotting some things down.

"Oh great, I need the other book," she muttered to herself and packed all her things in her bag. She walked to the portrait and it opened. Ron, Seamus and Dean all walked in, laughing about something one of them had just said.

"Hey Hermione," Seamus and Dean smiled at her. She waved at them and saw Ron just give her a cold look. She shook her head and walked out the entrance.

"Where are you going?" she heard Ron say and looked to see him watching her.

"None of your business Ronald," she said angrily and turned her back on him. "You're not my mother."

Hermione went to the library and headed straight to all the potion books. She looked around until she found what she was looking for. She pulled it out and saw Cedric looking down, probably reading a book.

"Hi Ced," she whispered and he looked up at her.

"Oh, hey Hermione," he grinned and closed the book with a snap. "What are you looking for?"

"Antidotes and their effects," she laughed and Cedric walked over to her. "You?"

"Just some Charms homework. I need to write and essay on the properties of the Protean Charm, but, I can't find anything that I don't already have on it," he sighed.

"Oh, you know what," Hermione looked up at him, "I think I know what you're looking for." She opened her bag and looked at the titles quickly. "Here we are." She pulled out an extra thick one and handed it to him "I think you might find what you need in there. Professor Flitwick usually recommends it to a small group of his N.E.W.T students, but he told me that I might enjoy reading this."

Cedric opened it up and perused the pages. There were two whole chapters dedicated to exactly what he was looking for. "Hermione you are amazing," Cedric grinned and hugged her. "You just saved my grade in that class."

"It's kind of what I do," she shrugged.

"Well, come over here where I'm at," he told her and steered her over to his table. They sat down and opened their respective books. The sounds of pages turning and quills scratching paper filled their little area and Hermione sighed as she rubbed her eyes tiredly.

"Tired?" he laughed. She looked up and smiled tiredly. "Come on, I'll take you to your dormitory."

They packed their bags and Hermione walked out with him. They made their way up the stairs, waiting when they had to for the stairs to arrive.

"So, how's Harry?" he asked her as they got closer to the Gryffindor house.

"He's a little nervous," she told him. "Hopefully he'll be okay."

"Well then, I guess I'll see you later," he grinned once they got to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Okay, bye," she smiled. "Oh, and you can keep the book for now. Let's just say you owe me."

He grinned and walked a little further away so that she could wake up the Fat Lady and tell her the password. The portrait opened and Hermione walked in a little. She turned to look back at him and waved before the portrait hid her from his view.

Hermione trudged into the common room and walked up to the girls' dormitory. She set all her things down and plopped down on her bed.

"You're finally here," she heard Ginny's exasperated tone as the fiery redhead poked her head in.

"Were you looking for me?" Hermione asked her.

"Oh, no, I didn't just have my ear killed as Ron griped and moaned about where the hell you had gone. Well, more like he exploded, screamed for about ten minutes and then spent the rest of the time acting like a baby," Ginny muttered.

"Well, you're brother does not need to know where I am half the time," Hermione scoffed. "Last time I checked, he wasn't even talking to me."

"Yeah and you know my brother's tactlessness," Ginny giggled. She put her hair up and looked around the room. "Maybe someone should just tell my brother that he has a crush on you. I don't think he'll ever figure it out for himself."

Hermione rolled her eyes and began brushing her hair.

"Ginny, Ronald would simply deny the statement," Hermione reminded her. "Anyways, as long as your brother remains painfully oblivious to his feelings, the better it will be for all of us."

The first task loomed up, waiting just around the corner. Harry seemed to have lost himself to perfecting the Summoning Charm.

"Why don't you summon your book?" Hermione suggested at lunch. "It's in the common room, we're out here and it'll help."

He sighed and looked over at the windows where the Gryffindor house was.

"_Accio Hermione's gloves!" _he pointed his wand and a few seconds later, her gloves zoomed out and landed in his hands. He grinned and handed them to her.

"Well, it seems you're ready for the first task," she sighed and gratefully took her gloves. "Thanks for these, by the way."

"No problem," he grinned.

"So, you and Ron still not talking?" she asked him. He looked at her and his eyes seemed to say _obviously_. "Well, I think you guys should try. I know he misses you just as much as you miss him."

"Who said I miss him," Harry grumbled.

"Don't be stupid Harry," Hermione rolled her eyes. "I mean, if Ginny can get along with two Slytherins, albeit not the worst that there are, you and Ron should be able to patch things up again."

"Wait, Ginny hangs out with Slytherin scum?" Harry asked, his mind boggled at the concept.

"Yes Harry, and they aren't scum," Hermione sighed. "It's Draco's sister and her friend, Raven."

"Hmph, didn't know that could happen," he snickered. Hermione rolled her eyes and opened her Potions book.

"So, when do you have to leave to get ready for the task tomorrow?" she asked him.

"I don't know," he said, his face paling at the thought pf having to go against the dragons tomorrow. Hagrid had seemed to be somewhat daunted by the Hungarian Horntail and Harry was desperately wishing that he wouldn't get stuck with that.

"Don't worry, Harry, you'll be fine. After all, you do have to prove Draco wrong," she grinned from behind her book, knowing that this was all Harry really needed to do his best.

"Oh yeah," he grinned, all tension leaving his body, "I forgot all about that bet."

"Now, you can prove to him that you can do this," she told him. _Him and the whole school, _she sighed internally.

"Yeah, I'm sick of all those badges," he sighed.

Luna made her way down the Greenhouse three and found Raven there.

"Hello," she said, in her usual dreamy voice. Raven jumped at the sound and looked up at her.

"Oh, Luna, hi," she smiled forcefully and stood up straight. She smoothed out her robe and pushed away an offending tendril of hair.

"Who are you hiding from?" she asked her.

"No one," she laughed nervously. "What makes you think that?"

"Oh, no reason. Merely the fact that you were crouched down in here, and the palpable fear that surrounded you in the mere seconds that it took for you to look up at me after I said hello," Luna smiled. "I was meeting Ginny here, I wonder what held her up."

"Who knows," Raven drawled, her mood souring at the thought of Ginny Weasley.

"You know, Autumn never really talks to her," Luna suddenly said. "Only when you're there. Just to get a rise out of you."

Raven flushed and looked down. How had she known what she was thinking?

"Well, I guess I'll see you in class. And if not, then at the first task tomorrow. Ginny, Lavender and I are all going together. Would you like to join us?" Luna smiled.

"To be surrounded by Gryffindors? Oh joy," Raven smirked and Luna laughed. They both knew she would join them, anything to get away from Autumn.

"We'll be waiting at the entrance to the Great Hall," she told her and walked away.

Raven shook her head and looked out the window. There was Hermione and Harry sitting under the tree and some third year Hufflepuffs were by the lake. Hermione seemed to be studying as usual, Harry laughing at something she had said. They seemed so comfortable together. Who would've known that a guy and a girl could be the best of friends, with no additional feelings. It just seemed so odd.

Making friends was not a concept that was practiced to much in the Slytherin house. They had allies, connections, but never friends. Autumn had embraced this idea completely. After all, she was a Malfoy and even though she was only a girl, Autumn Malfoy was just as terrifying as Draco. Except for the fact that she had no kind of Hermione in any form. Draco was a big softy, when it came to the no longer bushy-haired Gryffindor. It was pathetic how much he loved her and didn't even realize it and yet, it was kind of cute too watch. Now more than ever with Hermione's new fans.

Raven yawned and quickly looked around the surrounding area. After making sure that Autumn was nowhere near sight, Raven ran over to where Hermione and Harry were sitting.

"Hello," she said pleasantly. The two Gryffindors looked up in surprise and Raven saw a quick smile pass through Hermione's face.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked her, confusion twisting his features.

"Just wanted to see if you two were going to snog already," Raven teased and pulled her hair up as they spluttered and denied the claim vehemently. "I'm just kidding you prats," she giggled. "I wanted to see what it's like with the Gryffindors. Slytherins are so cold, Ravenclaws only want to study and Hufflepuff just enjoying hide and seek too much since they're such damn, good finders." She huffed and sat down next to Hermione.

"Well, if you don't want to hang out with busy bodies that care only for studying, you should stay far, far away from Hermione," Harry joked, momentarily forgetting that Raven was in fact, a Slytherin.

He and Raven burst out laughing and Hermione grumbled, putting away her book.

"Anyways, you two are the Golden duo. Probably the only power couple who isn't really a couple," Raven told them and both Harry and Hermione looked up, astonished. "It's true. Come on Granger, even you should know that."

"Why?" Harry asked, still reeling from the shock of the news he had just heard.

"Well, Hermione's a good looking witch who can kick your ass in a duel and you are The Boy Who Lived, loyal to whatever he thinks is just and therefore, has the loyalty of hundreds of students here. If you were to proclaim someone was an enemy, I'm sure more then half of the school would turn on said person," Raven explained. "Hermione's like your second in command. She backs you up, protects you, kicks peoples' asses if they even dare to cross the line. Well, she would if you were leader of the world or something."

"You have been hanging out with Luna for too long," Hermione giggled. "She's rubbing off on you."

Raven just grinned at them and stood up.

"Well, good luck tomorrow, Harry," she waved and left them there.

"That was weird," she heard Harry say and grinned.

The next day, Harry was already sitting at the Hall, early in the morning. Hermione made her way downstairs and went to sit next to him.

"Couldn't sleep last night?" she asked him and he shook his head.

"Bad dreams," he muttered.

"Are you going to eat?" she asked him as she buttered her toast and grabbed a small bushel of grapes.

"Don't feel good," he balked.

"Harry, it's barely the morning. Don't even worry about it," she smiled and patted his hand. "Come on, we still have classes."

"Classes, how am I supposed to worry about classes at this moment?" he laughed, his voice bordering a little on hysteria.

"Harry, breathe. Nothing's going to go wrong," Hermione smiled at him. "I have to go to go to class now. I'll see you in a little."

She got up and walked away. As she headed up the stairs, she heard someone following her.

"Granger, wait!" she heard someone call out and turned in confusion.

"Cedric!" she exclaimed in surprise. He grinned up at her and finally caught up to her.

"Before I go to class, there was something I wanted to say," he told her. "Just you know, thanks for all the help and hanging out with me I guess. I know Potter's probably kept you worried enough, so yeah." He grinned nervously at her, his hand raking his hair and then he walked towards her and kissed her quickly on the cheek. "I'll see you later." He waved and walked away.

Hermione stood there, stunned and her hand touched her cheek softly.

"Hermione, you're going to be late for class," someone yelled out and pulled her out of her reverie. She shook her head and hurried to her class. She hurried in and sat next to Ernie.

"Hey," he smiled at her.

"Hi," she gasped out and set her things on the table.

The morning seemed to pass by in a blur, Hermione preoccupied with keeping track of Harry mentally. He seemed nervous of going insane and hexing everyone in sight. Hermione smiled to herself and sat next to him at lunch.

"You all right there Harry?" she asked him.

"Peachy keen," he mumbled. She sighed and poked inside his head.

_Where has the morning gone? All my dragon free hours are coming to an end!_

Hermione closed her eyes and rubbed her head. How Draco enjoyed prodding into peoples' head was beyond her.

_That's because you never really use it, therefore you haven't quite honed it, _Draco said smugly. Hermione scowled and shook her head.

_I try not to be one of those silly gossiping, giggling girls, _Hermione replied back tartly.

_I vehemently negate that sentence! _he said and Hermione looked up to see him scowling.

"Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall stood behind Harry and Hermione. "the champions are beginning to go down to the tent to prepare for the first task. If you'll follow me."

Harry's face balked and Hermione squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"I'll see you later Harry," she whispered and he nodded. He and the Head of their house walked out and Hermione sighed. Things were about to get very interesting.

A little later, Ron joined her at the table and started stuffing his face with food. Hermione looked at him, a little appalled and wondered how he could manage to eat all that food. Just that morning, he had gone up to her and apologized for his irrational behavior for the past days. Hermione had considered telling him to shove off, but had decided that it would be better if Ron were on good terms with her again. Not that she still wasn't wondering what had made him angry in the first place.

"Let's go, Mione," he said, standing up. "We need to get spots for the first task."

Hermione sighed and followed him out. All the students were coming out and everyone was heading down to the field. She saw Ginny, Luna, Lavender and Raven walking down together.

_Hmm, I guess Raven doesn't hate Ginny that much anymore, _she thought to herself. Ron tugged her to the side and the twins were walking around, boxes around them as they called out for bets.

"So ridiculous of them," Hermione sighed as the twins shouted over the noise.

"Mione, you forget that that's Fred and George," Ron grinned. "Of course they're going to do ridiculous things." Hermione rolled her eyes and they sat down in the stands. She looked around and found Draco not to far from them. He made a face at Ron and she smothered a giggle, Ron looking over at her to see why she was laughing.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said cheekily. Her grin widened and she looked away from him so that he would stop scrutinizing her. "So, what do you think they're going to have to do?"

"Who knows," he replied, pulling out a pack of Chocolate Frogs. Hermione suppressed a groan and managed to not even shake her head at him. What was she ever going to do with these boys?

"Hey, Hermione, are those dragons?" Ron's voice sounded hoarse and she looked over to where he was looking at. Sure enough, four cages were near each other, each holding a different breed of dragon.

"Oh, bloody hell," she whispered, her hand covering her mouth quickly. This was going to be insane.

Cedric watched as Bagman pulled Harry out of the tent for "a quick word." what was up with that man? He looked down at his hand and watched as the miniature version of the Swedish Short Snout walked in circles, it's silvery blue scales glistening each time the light hit it. He really had been hoping that Harry was kidding, but now, now he was standing here, about to go out and face a dragon all for a stupid golden egg.

_Well, at least if I die, Hermione knows that I like her. Or, at least I hope she knows, _he swallowed nervously and then he heard the sound of the whistle. Oh, Merlin, here went nothing.

He walked out of the tent and braced himself as he walked the short path that would lead him to the actual dragon. Bloody hell, at least Potter had warned him before hand. And no wonder! Those slimy gits from the other schools had obviously known. Viktor Krum's face had looked impassive and Fleur Delacour had just looked up at her Headmistress in fierce determination, mingled with a little bit fear. But apart from that, they had not been surprised.

The cheers from the stands caught his attention and Cedric gripped his wand tightly and walked out into the pitch.

"Oh Merlin!" Hermione gasped as soon as she saw the brown messy locks that belonged to Cedric and Cedric alone. Why did he have to be the first to come out? Well at least the Swedish Short Snout was the only dragon who had the least deaths to its name.

Said dragon stretched its neck and shot out a flame of a brilliant blue fire.

Hermione jumped in fright and looked down worriedly. Cedric seemed nervous, oh Godric, could he do this?

The crowd roared in excitement as he came to face the dragon.

"Bloody hell Hermione, maybe Harry really didn't put his name in the goblet," Ron said worriedly as they saw Cedric begin. Hermione scowled and looked at him.

"You think Ron?" she asked, a little scathingly. "I honestly thought that he really enjoyed the idea of coming face to face with dangers that could lead to death in every year."

Ron smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

"Okay, so I might have been a little dramatic," he shrugged.

"A little Ronald?" Hermione scoffed, but the screams from the stand shocked her and she looked down quickly. Cedric had just narrowly missed the dragon's tail. She grasped the rail tightly and leaned forward to watch better now. He was trying to cast a spell, but the dragon kept interrupting him. Hermione bit her lower lip nervously and watched intently.

The dragon flew up a little and turned to look to see where he was. Its wing caught him and Cedric found himself flying off and hitting the rocks on the ground. The people in the crowd screamed and Cedric rolled back up. He gripped his wand tightly and sent a stunning spell at the dragon. He knew it wouldn't have an effect. Its scales were too thick for just one spell. It would have to take several people just to knock it out.

He grimaced as its wing flew over his head and he ducked at the last second.

"Oh that was so close!" she heard Bagman's voice roar and looked over to where he was at.

_Hmm, wasn't aware he was commenting, _she sniffed.

Draco stood there, annoyed that he had to be out here just to be surrounded by Crabbe and Goyle. The two idiots just made his brain function slower, just by standing there. Hermione was only a few seats in front and the Weasel was with her.

"Merlin, that boy's ability to quickly duck and dodge might just save him!" Bagman cried out.

A few minutes later, Cedric waved his wand and a rock nearby by transfigured into a golden Labrador. It barked and the dragon turned her head to look at the offending noise. The dogs hackles were raised and its teeth were bared. Draco could just imagine what thoughts were going through Hermione's mind.

_Yeah, unless she likes Diggory a lot to endanger some dog's life, _his mind snickered. Draco scowled and shook his head. The damn dog wasn't even real!

Cedric ducked as soon as he saw the dragon's attention was diverted and ran quickly to where its nest was. His heart was pounding fiercely and he was so close. The roar grabbed his attention and just as his fingers scraped the golden egg, the dragon turned to look at him and it released a jet of its blue flame. He gasped and jumped off, but not fast enough. He felt the side of his face sear and he rolled down, protecting the egg.

There were some screams of fear and Cedric managed to get as far as he could from the dragon.

"Great Scott! The dragon just narrowly misses him and Cedric manages to get the egg!" Bagman roared. The stands went up in cheers and he grinned. Finally, it was over for him. For now.

"Come with me, Diggory" Professor Sprout was at his side and tugging him away from the enclosure. She was leading him over to some tents were he saw Madame Pomfrey waiting. "That was some incredible transfiguration," Professor Sprout smiled and pat his back. "Way to go, Diggory. You make the Hufflepuff house proud."

He grinned and was ushered into the tent by Madame Pomfrey. She was fussing over his condition and he could've sworn that he heard her curse dragons under her breath.

"This will sting a little now, but it will heal the wounds. Now, quickly, go get your scores and come back here this instant. No hanging around to see the others. I'll need you sitting here and relaxed," she told him and he nodded.

He walked out and was greeted with a roar of cheers. He looked over to where the judges sat, now no longer hidden by the dragon.

Hermione looked worriedly at him and sighed in relief when she saw that he had only a minor burn. Thank Godric that he had survived, completely intact.

"I hate these things," she hissed and Ron rolled his eyes.

"You hate just about any death related sport," he chuckled. "Anyways, the wanker got away safe."

"Don't call him that," Hermione looked up at him, astonished. She looked back and watched as he walked back to where the tents were.

A few minutes later, the whistle blew again and everyone watched as the Common Welsh Green was brought out.

"Wonder who got this one," Ron chuckled. Not too long after, Fleur Delacour came out.

"Hey Ron, its your girlfriend," Hermione joked. Ron scowled and stared nervously over at where she was, so he never noticed Hermione slip away.

She made her way to the tents and saw Cedric sitting on the bed, looking a little dazed still.

"Congratulations," she whispered and went over to hug him. A flash went off and Hermione leapt back, only to see Rita Skeeter and her photographer, Bozo, standing there.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked her coldly.

"Oh nothing," Rita Skeeter smiled. "I just thought that we were ignoring our other Hogwarts champion for too long. It must be so, aggravating to be shoved into the shadows, to be overlooked. Especially because of the fact that the other boy is really, only 12."

"Fourteen," Hermione and Cedric both said quickly.

"Right," she smiled sickeningly sweet and walked away.

Hermione sighed and rubbed her temples.

"This won't be good," she sighed and shook her head.

"No worries Hermione," Cedric grinned, "it can't be that bad."

"Remember what she wrote about Harry?" Hermione looked at him and he swallowed nervously. "Yeah, it's going to be bad. Well, I have to go, but that was amazing." She looked over to where the crowd had roared and heard distinctly Bagman say that Fleur had just gotten the egg. "I don't know if Harry will be next."

"He's going last," Cedric told her, but decided against telling her what dragon he was going up against. "But, yeah, you probably should go back."

Hermione nodded and left the tent. She headed back to where Ron was, who had just started looking for her.

"Where did you go?" he asked her,

"Nowhere," she smiled and looked over. "How did Fleur do?"

"Amazing! She managed to hit it with some spell and I think it kind of dozed off, but then just as she was going to get the egg, it snored and released some fire out of its nose and caught her skirt. She put it out and got the egg, but yeah, it was incredible." Ron grinned.

A roar caught their attention and Hermione looked down to the Chinese Fireball in interest.

"I wish this whole thing was over already," she groaned. Viktor Krum walked out and Ron nearly fainted in awe.

"Hermione, look, Krum," he said in a hoarse voice.

"Honestly Ronald, he's a champion. Keep your knickers on," Hermione sighed. The crowd was roaring in excitement and Hermione couldn't help but shake her head when he cast the Conjunctivitus Curse on it. The dragon roared in pain and even though Krum managed to get the egg, the dragon crushed half of the actual eggs in the nest.

"He is going to get points docked off for that," Hermione said.

Sure enough, as he was being awarded his points, Dumbledore and Madame Maxime both docked points off and yet when Karkaroff awarded him, he gave him all ten points.

"Oh, that man infuriates me to no end," Hermione huffed angrily. She crossed her arms and scowled. Ron rolled hi eyes and they stood there as they waited for the last dragon to be brought out. A menacing roar shook the stands and Hermione looked out, horrified. A terrifying, red dragon, covered almost entirely in horns was being dragged into the enclosure. The people handling it were already sporting several burns and Hermione chewed on her lower lip nervously.

This? This is what Harry had to go up against? Why hadn't Cedric warned her?

"Harry," she whispered fearfully and watched as the Hungarian Horntail stretched its neck and let out a jet of fire. Everyone in the stands gasped and some of them scooted away from the edge of where they had been at. Ron's jaw had dropped and he stood there, gaping at it.

"Oh, bloody hell," he whispered weakly. The whistle rang out and everyone held their breath as they waited for Harry to come out of where everyone else had come from. It seemed as if a choking silence had descended upon them. Finally, Harry's jet black hair appeared and the crowd roared, eager to see if Harry would survive or not.

He looked around, not seeing the dragon he had to confront and breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe the first task would be the easiest for him. Especially since the nest seemed to be unguarded. He stepped towards it and a deafening roar came from his left. He ducked and ran quickly towards a momentary shelter. The crowd was riled up in excitement and as he tried to get closer to the nest, the dragon's tail hit him on the side and he found himself flying down. He crashed against the rocks and felt the air rush out of him. He groaned and rolled over, wishing- not for the first time- that his name had never been pulled out of the Goblet.

"Your wand Harry! Use your wand," Hermione screamed.

He held out his wand and pointed up to the sky.

"_Accio Firebolt!"_ he cried out. The dragon lunged towards him and he jumped towards another rock, just as it released a jet of fire. He felt the heat of the seemingly never ending onslaught of the fire. He was going to die. The spell hadn't worked after all. All that work Hermione put in had been for nothing.

A whistling sound caught his attention and when he looked over, he saw his Firebolt flying over and stopped nearby him. He ran for his life and jumped onto it and the world seemed to fade before him. All of his fear simply dissolved away and Harry felt incredible.

Hermione watched as Harry jumped on his broom and saw the strange expression on his face. It was of complete and pure bliss. What in the name of Merlin was going on? He was battling a dragon, this was no time to go soft in the head!

Just like that, Harry took off.

"Merlin's Beard! That boy can fly," Bagman said. "Mr. Krum, are you watching this?"

Hermione felt as if her heart was about to explode as Harry expertly maneuvered around the dragon and managed to even finally get it to get away from its nest. He dived and got the golden egg and the crowd erupted in cheers. As he flew from out of the dragon, its tail flew towards him and one f its spikes managed to scratch Harry's shoulder.

Everyone screamed and Hermione gasped, but Harry kept flying and landed near the medical tent. The trainers came out and shot jinxes at the dragon to stun it back to sleep.

"Ron, come on," Hermione said and pulled Ron away from the stands. They rushed over to where Professor McGonagall and Harry had gone into.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed and ran over to hug him. "That was amazing. And Godric, I couldn't believe that you got the worst dragon ever."

"Thanks, Mione," Harry grinned and hugged her back. Ron stood there awkwardly in the back, wondering if Harry would ever forgive him.

Hermione backed off a little to the side and watched as Harry and Ron stared at each other.

"I reckon you've got to be barking mad if you put your name in their," Ron said weakly.

"Caught on have you?" Harry asked him.

"I-"

"It's fine," Harry cut him off, not needing Ron's apology. Just having him back was good enough. "I'm just glad you're back."

"Boys," Hermione sobbed and rushed out of the tent.

"Blimey, what's her problem?" Ron asked and the two laughed joyfully, glad they were on good terms again.

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**A/N: So, love it? Hate it? Tell me what you think.**


	13. Chapter 13 What's in a Name?

**Disclaimer: Obviously not mine.**

**A/N: Hey xxfallblossomsxx, hope you enjoy Daphne's intro to the story.  
**

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Chapter Thirteen What's In a Name?

Hermione made her way back into the castle, leaving Harry and Ron to catch up on things they had missed. She was glad they were friends again, because they were going to need each others help to get through her surprise for them. She knew Ron was going to hate her. The Weasley family had always looked down upon the Puceys, and now, Ron was going to find out that his best friend was one of them.

She sighed and made her way up the stairs.

Maybe it was time to contact Adrian. Merlin knows they hadn't talked in awhile.

She ended up in an empty classroom and headed inside. But what would she write to him? They had only talked one other time in her second year, after Draco had first called her a mudblood. Afterwards, they had owled each other a few more times, but that was it. Anyways, what was she going to say, _Dear Adrian, I'm terrified that my friends are going to leave me when they find out who I really am?_ Why would he care about them leaving, it would be the best thing in his opinion. Adrian wasn't too fond about Harry because of Quidditch, and Ron because he was a Weasley. She shook her head and sighed.

Writing a letter sounded really good right now.

She stood up and walked out, only to run into Autumn.

"What are you doing here?" she asked Autumn in surprise.

"Looking around," she scowled, blowing a piece of her hair out of her face. "Raven has temporarily ditched me for Loony Lovegood, but all I have to do is wait until she wants to come back."

"Why are you calling Luna, Loony?" Hermione asked her, confused at finding Autumn in such a foul mood.

"Because, if it weren't for that bloody girl, Raven would not be hanging out with Ginny Weasley, so that would mean I could still bug her about that damn girl," she scoffed.

"Why don't you just ask her to hang out with you?" she said.

"Malfoys do not beg," she said coldly and walked away.

"Oh dear," Hermione sighed and went to go search out Draco.

Blaise was walking the halls with Draco, Draco sulking and therefore making their walking just a little more gloomier. First, he had been angry because Hermione had been spending all her time with Harry, then he had been angry because she had "forgotten" about him as she spent all her time with Harry and then, he was upset because her friends were pushing her to the brink of exhaustion. So what the hell was he so upset about this time?

He was just as possessive as Nathaniel had been when he briefly dated Hermione. Nathaniel, who Draco had affectionately called an octopus.

But that was besides the point. All this nonsense of repressed feelings was really starting to bug him now. Maybe, he could convince Raven to bring that conniving, lioness friend of hers and all three of them could plot some dastardly way to make Draco extremely jealous and fall for Hermione, but Hermione couldn't know that she was being used by himself, his sister and that vixen, Ginny.

"Blaise, are you aware that you are projecting your thoughts out to me?" Draco sighed, looking sideways at him. "First of all, I am nothing like that bastard Nathaniel, he was a wanker, and a damn possessive one at that, second there are no repressed feelings from me or Hermione. Third of all, you can't just toy with Hermione's feelings like that, you idiot. She's your damn cousin! So get these dastardly thoughts out of your head and leave me the hell alone. Oh, and why the hell are you attracted to the Weaselette?"

Draco stalked away and Blaise rubbed his chin, thinking.

_He doth protest too much._

Hermione was folding her letter to Adrian and began making her way to the Owlery. It wasn't much, but she was going to finally meet him and her actual dad this summer. If all went according to plan. Now, where was Draco.

"Get the hell out of my way," Draco barked at some first years who scattered like rabbits. He stormed up towards the Owlery, fuming at what Blaise had been thinking.

_Bloody hell, who does he think he is, comparing me to Nathaniel pussy Turpin. There is no way I am anything like that bloody wanker._

"Draco!" someone exclaimed as he bumped into someone. He looked up and saw Hermione staring at him in surprise. "I was just about to go look for you."

"Oh," he grinned, his foul mood going out the window at Hermione's exclamation that she was going to go look for him, "what's up?"

"Nothing, really. I just sent a letter to Adrian, telling him about the Triwizard tournament, though he probably already knows. And then I told him about what we have planned for the New Years' Eve party, so yeah," she smiled and looked around. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, nothing, I just, um, Blaise is being stupid and I had enough of his scheming for the moment so," his sentence drifted off, hanging there between them.

"Oh, hey," Hermione said suddenly, "what's up with your sister now and days? I just saw her and she was pissed about Raven hanging out with Luna and Ginny. And here I thought she would be so happy. Remember how she always complained about Raven hanging on to her every word and all that other stuff?"

"Yeah," he laughed, recalling how every summer, Autumn would gripe Raven following her all the time. "Girls, you know, you lot are all complex creatures."

"Hey," she laughed and hit him lightly on the shoulder.

"Easy on the goods there, I bruise easily, darling" Draco said and the two started laughing.

"Well, isn't this cute," someone's voice came from behind Draco and they turned around to see Daphne Greengrass standing there. "So, what Pansy said was true. Draco likes to get his hands dirty after all. And with the Gryffindor Princess at that."

She smirked and crossed her arms, waiting to see what excuse they would come up with. So imagine her surprise when Draco grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and held her against the wall.

"If I hear you say one fucking thing about this Greengrass, I swear you'll live to regret it," he muttered, his eyes flashing dangerously.

"Draco, let her go," Hermione said softly, tugging his arm. Daphne swallowed nervously and watched with wide eyes as Draco reluctantly let her go.

Why was the mudblood helping her? If anything, she would've expected her to watch as Draco continued threatening her.

"Bye," Hermione waved at the girl and pulled Draco away from her.

Daphne rubbed her eyes and blinked rapidly. Had Malfoy really walked away from cursing her to the next century? If so, who exactly was that Granger girl?

Draco scowled as Hermione continued walking, dragging him the whole time down the stairs.

"You can let go of me now," he muttered.

"Draco Malfoy, you are just about the biggest prat I have ever had the misfortune to meet," Hermione growled and dropped his arm. "You don't threaten girls you arse! Those are things left to barbaric people!"

"She called you a mudblood in her head," he sighed.

"Well, it's progress," Hermione scowled. "At least she didn't say it out loud."

Draco rolled his eyes and watched as Hermione huffed around angrily. She looked so adorable when she got mad.

_Oh, really now? _that evil voice in his head sneered.

_Adorable like, 5 year old adorable, _he snapped back. _Shut up!_

Hermione watched Draco, arms crossed, as he obviously was denying something he had just thought.

"Look, Draco, you need to stop arguing with the Slytherins all the time. Especially when it comes to me," she sighed.

"I had to make sure that she was going to keep her mouth shut about what she saw," Draco hissed. "I mean, it's not every day you see some pureblood arse laughing with a muggle born witch, now is it? Life would be so much easier if that were the case. You Know Who would've never risen to power if that were the bloody case."

"Draco, just shut it," Hermione sighed. "Look, talk to your sister. Get her to take her head out of her ass, because frankly, it's starting to bug me."

Draco nodded and looked around.

"As secluded as this area might be, we are going to start attracting attention soon," Draco told her and Hermione looked around. She nodded and pulled her scarf ends.

"How about, I'll go first and you can follow a little later," Hermione said and waved as she left.

Draco watched her as she walked away, her hair now seeming to lighten up a little more than he had recalled. Perhaps the Weaselette's hair stuff was fading? Hmm, he liked how Hermione looked with her hair darker. She seemed to exude a sort of mysterious kind of look.

He heard someone come down the stairs and looked behind to see Daphne scowling at him.

"I won't say anything you asshole, but only because I think she makes you into a big fat softy," she said and flipped her hair before walking away.

"You're only saying that because she saved you," Draco called out after her, only to receive the bird from her.

He sighed and headed back towards the castle. He needed to talk with his sweet sister about some things.

Raven laughed as Luna swatted the air above Ginny's head for the thousandth time that day. She insisted that the Wrackspurts were finding Ginny's mind enjoyable to nestle in. Ginny simply looked at the eccentric blonde in confusion and shook off her comment.

"Oh, Raven, look, here comes your brother," Luna said in her soft wispy voice. Raven looked over and sure enough, Blaise was walking towards them, looking a little dejected.

"Hello, brother," Raven said and hugged him briefly. Blaise nodded towards the other girls and then motioned to his sister that she should follow him.

"See you lot later," Raven sighed and left.

Luna smiled at Ginny and the two girls continued walking.

"What do you think about Raven now?" Luna asked the redhead.

"She's okay, I guess. You know, now that she isn't sending me daggers anymore. Which I must admit, is huge progress in my opinion," Ginny laughed.

"Well, Autumn was playing up the fact that Raven had already seemed not to like you in the first place and each time they were together and Autumn saw you, she would make a point to spend time talking to you and ignoring her," Luna said dreamily. "She likes to make Raven mad."

Ginny gaped at her and didn't know what to think.

"How do you know that?" she asked her dumbfound.

"I pay attention to things like that," Luna smiled at her. "Anyways, it's not too hard to see that Autumn likes having an advantage over Raven."

"Aren't all Malfoys like that?" Ginny muttered.

"Of course not," Luna laughed. "Autumn is the opposite of her brother. It seems Hermione is the one with leverage in that friendship, not that she'll ever acknowledge it."

"Too true," Ginny agreed with the eccentric blonde and they continued roaming around the castle.

"Hermione, finally," Harry sat up as soon as she entered the dorms.

"What?" she looked at both wizards.

"Hurry up, we have to go to the Owlery. I finished my letter to Sirius about the first task and we've been waiting for you," Harry grinned and he and Ron grabbed her by the arms and steered her out of the common room.

The three friends, reunited once again, walked cheerfully to the Owlery. Ron kept telling Harry about all the other champions and was very animated over retelling Krum's experience.

"The funniest thing was that he never even once thought about flying in order to get it. I swear to you, everyone who wasn't from Hogwarts was astounded to see you fly. Ha! So much for Krum being the best," Ron laughed. They got to the top and Harry was busy attaching the letter to a barn owl. "Anyways, if that was the first task, I think you have this in the bag Harry. Honestly, I feel like you're going to win."

Harry grinned and Hermione rolled her eyes and leaned on the wall.

"Well, I hate to think what the other two tasks are going to be if that was what they chose as the first," Hermione sighed. "These tasks are meant to test you and it's even worse for you Harry, because you are under the age limit. Therefore, you don't have the advantage of knowing as many spells as the rest of them do."

"Well, aren't you a right ray of sunshine," Ron said.

Hermione scowled at him and he shrugged his shoulders.

"No worries you guys," Harry laughed and put his arms around them both. "With you two at my side, everything should be fine."

Ron laughed and Hermione smiled weakly at him. Maybe, maybe they wouldn't mind that she really wasn't Hermione Granger. After all, what's in a name?

* * *

**A/N: yes, this is more of a filler chapter. However, I decided that all of my characters needed a break and had to face some more teenage troubles and such rather than having to worry about how to keep Harry alive and whatnot. So, now that I've taken Krum's date for the Yule Ball away, tell me, who would you like to see him with?**


	14. Chapter 14 Yule What?

Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't live in England nor are my initials JKR.

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Chapter Fourteen Yule What?

Harry walked into Transfiguration in a good mood. Ron was talking to him again and Hermione seemed to be more herself now. Though, maybe it was because she was actually getting some sleep now. After all, the first task hadn't just drained him of his energy. Hermione, he knew, had gone some sleepless nights as she had taught him the summoning charm. And from the glares that he had been receiving from Malfoy during that time, apparently, she hadn't been doing to great.

Well, that was over and done with, now he could relax until February. Then, who knows.

"Harry," Ron whispered and Harry looked over at him. "Check it out, nicked some of my brothers' fake wands."

Harry grinned and took one. They commenced fighting and soon Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly. Both wizards looked up and saw that she was staring at them.

"Now that Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley have decided to act their ages again, I have some important news," she said sternly. "Now, as tradition, whenever there is a Triwizard Tournament, we also have a Yule Ball so that all the students can be given a chance to mingle with the other two schools. Now, you have to be a fourth year at least, in order to attend. Of course, you may ask any younger student if you wish, but that would be the only reason that they could attend. Now, the Yule Ball, for this who may not know, is first and foremost, a dance."

At this, several of the wizards groaned in disappointment, while the girls became animated.

"Now, I expect that the all of you will be on your best behavior. I do not want to see the name of Hogwarts be tainted because you all act a bunch of bumbling baboons. Now, class dismissed."

Everyone stood up and started walking out the door.

"Mr. Potter, if you'll come here please," Professor McGonagall called out just before Harry walked out the door.

He looked where Ron and Hermione were waiting and shrugged his shoulder.

"See you guys later," he told them.

Hermione walked with Ron down to lunch and sighed.

"I wonder what Professor McGonagall wanted to talk to Harry about," she sighed. "I mean, he can't possibly have gotten in trouble."

"Eh, who cares," Ron said, stuffing some mashed potatoes in his mouth. "It's probably champion stuff. Anyways, Harry will tell us."

"Yeah, I guess," Hermione sighed and looked around. At the Gryffindor table, Ginny was chatting away pleasantly with Neville. Lavender was flanked by Parvarti and Padma, who had apparently taken the time to come visit them for now. Fred and George were conversing together and looking slightly more serious than she was used to seeing them. They had been acting a little odd all year, but who knew with those two. They were probably planning some intricate prank to do on the whole school.

But anyways, over at the Ravenclaw table, Luna was sitting by herself again, looking around, lost in her own world. Hermione couldn't understand how the girl did it. She just seemed to believe anything and it bugged Hermione to no end. There were absolutely no facts corroborating anything that Luna believed in and Hermione wished that she could have that kind of faith in some non-existent thing. Even love seemed like such a silly thing. Then of course, she didn't quite have the best examples in the world.

Their were her parents, who had divorced each other and then her mum had married a muggle to make Hermione seem as if she were a muggle herself. Of course, not to long after Hermione befriended the Malfoys, her mum started having affairs with different men and that had resulted in her second divorce with her muggle father at the age of nine. Then, Blaise's parents weren't a picture perfect family either. His dad had managed to escape death from Blaise's mum and was the only man to have done so. As for the Malfoys, Narcissa seemed to be okay with Mr. Malfoy, but she had seen that women kick him out of the house too many times to think that they were really in love with each other. Theirs was obviously a marriage of convenience, not something that was done out of love for each other.

On the other hand, their was Mrs. Weasley and her husband. That whole family was just a bundle of love and warm feelings. Hermione loved going to their house over the summer, it was nice to be around people who genuinely cared for people.

"Hey guys," Harry's sulky tone brought Hermione out of her thoughts.

"What did Professor McGonagall want?" she asked him, worried at his grim expression.

"Apparently, I have to have a partner for the Yule Ball because the champions do the opening dance," Harry grumbled. "Which is ridiculous because I don't dance. But then she practically bit my head off when I told her that." He groaned in despair and put his head on the table.

"Harry, mate, you just beat a dragon. Chicks are going to dig you at the moment mate," Ron said, his mouth full, and he patted his friend on the back.

"Yeah," Harry grumbled. "Well, at least we know what the dress robes are for."

Ron choked a little on his food as he recalled that horrendous thing that was hidden upstairs under his bed.

"Yeah," he said weakly, "the dress robes."

Hermione finished her lunch and stood up.

"See you guys later, I'm going to-"

"The library," her two friends finished for her. Hermione grinned and walked away. She might have been a little predictable, but the library wasn't calling her name right now, it was the Room of Requirement.

Not too long ago, she had discovered one of the most amazing places in there. It was vast and had a high ceiling, containing books of seemingly every nature. Hermione's heart had almost exploded in excitement at the thought of exploring everything in that library. It was such a beautiful place too. The room was a creamy color and a window was placed that allowed the sun into the room, lighting it up wonderfully and giving Hermione the illusion of a peaceful setting. There were plants hanging around the place and some of them let off an incredibly intoxicating smell. They could make Hermione feel drowsy or give her an extra jolt of energy if she needed it. She loved it so much. It was her haven. Maybe she could bring Draco here. Merlin knows that boy needed some peace and quiet. Ever since she and Pansy had fought, Pansy had made a point to be extra clingy which also made it more difficult for Draco to meet up with her at their spot. Ever since the incident at the Owlery with Daphne, the girl had been watching her with a slight interest. It would only take so long before she probably came to talk to her.

Hermione sighed and left her things on the table. She walked around the aisles and her hand skimmed over the book covers. Tomorrow she had Ancient Runes and that meant working on those stupid papers. She and Draco were at the top of the second page and Hermione had read enough to know that these were children stories. Draco had mentioned the title name. Something about Beetle the Bard or whatever it was he had said. It was only two pages from the story, but they had captured Hermione's interest. It had to do with objects that Death had granted to each of the three brothers. Now, if only she could find that book and read the rest of the story.

_Hermione? _a soft voice flooded her mind. She closed her eyes and looked out of the other person's sight. It was Draco and he was standing outside of the portrait, but couldn't get in.

_Just think about the Onyx Library, _Hermione told him. A minute later, the door opened and Draco came in, looking around in astonishment.

"Trust Hermione Granger to find the library that this room holds," Draco chuckled. He looked around and felt the tension ease out of his body. What was this place?

Hermione walked over to where he was and hugged him.

"Lost your girlfriend?" she asked him teasingly.

"Pansy is not my girlfriend," Draco scowled.

"Well, what do you think about the Yule Ball?" Hermione asked him.

"It's a waste of time," Draco scowled. "All these ridiculous girls are going to be running around like headless chickens, asking out any guy they see. Anyways, I'd rather spend my time with my two closest friends. You and Blaise. Though I could do without Blaise at the moment."

Hermione smiled and pulled her hair up.

"Well, yes, the whole, girls asking whoever they see is a tad bit unfortunate," Hermione agreed, "and at least you aren't a champion. Just imagine how awful it would be, being stalked 24/7."

Draco shuddered and smiled at her.

"Well, come on. Lunch is about to end," Draco sighed. "Unless you want to ditch." He smirked and Hermione sighed.

"Draco, how do you think you're talking to?" she asked, exasperated.

"Um, the smartest witch ever. So she can skip classes whenever she wants," Draco sighed. "Duh. Don't be so daft Hermione."

Hermione scoffed and pushed him off the chair.

"Whatever you twerp," she laughed. "Now come on, I am not missing class just because you feel like it."

"Come on, Hermione," Draco groaned and stood up. "We only have two more classes today anyways."

"No Draco," she rolled her eyes. "Now, I'm leaving right now, you come out in about five minutes."

He groaned and watched her walk away. Merlin, once everyone knew who Hermione really was, there was no way he would stay away from her. He would never have to see her walk away from him because they couldn't be seen together.

Draco sighed and stood up. Maybe he was just going soft in the head. Yes, Hermione was making him a big softy.

Draco shuddered and walked out of the room.

Hermione made her way up to charms and sat down next to Harry.

"Thought you were going to skip class," he said nervously.

Hermione grinned at him and shook her head.

"Harry, that was a one time thing. I would never actually willingly leave class," she told him. "So no, I won't be skipping class anytime soon."

"All right," Harry laughed ruefully. "So, what are we doing?"

"Now," Professor Flitwick began, "we'll be going over the theory of the Banishing charm," he beamed at Harry and Harry smiled back nervously. The Charms teacher had been over the moon over Harry's performance at the First Task, talking about how wonderful his Summoning Charm had been performed.

"If you'll open your books to page 134, you'll need to read the chapter on the wand movement. I'll want an essay about a foot long that goes over the incantation, how it originated and what it has been used for over the years," Professor Flitwick chirped.

Harry scowled and put his head down.

"Get to it!" he called out.

Hermione was already reading the chapter and Harry saw her underlining things in her book. He pulled out his own and sighed.

"So," he whispered, "what are you going to for the Yule ball? Professor McGonagall says I have to have a stupid partner for the dance. Stupid, champion stuff."

"Well, is there anyone you want to ask?" Hermione sighed.

"Yeah," Harry murmured a little dreamily. "But all these girls travel in packs, I swear."

"Well Harry, you're going to have to pluck up some of that Gryffindor courage and just ask one of them out," Hermione smirked. "Unless you want to find yourself dancing all alone."

She grabbed her bag and everyone started leaving.

"Come on you guys," Ron was waiting for them, "we have to go all the way to the north tower for our last class."

"Aw crap," Harry grabbed his stuff and they left quickly. "Well, at least dinner is after this."


	15. Chapter 15 Fears

**A/N Right, so i noticed a little mistake i made and decided to clear it. Hermione has Ancient Runes in the morning, arithmancy in the afternoon. now, i just need to remember for later on.**  


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Chapter Fifteen Fear

Ron was moaning by the time that Astronomy was over, griping about how his stomach was empty and that no one could really expect him to learn on an empty stomach.

"Yeah, you and everyone else Ronald," Hermione sighed. "All you could talk about was how you were hungry."

"Well, I still am," Ron moaned.

They entered the Great Hall and made their way over to Ginny.

"Guess what you guys, Dumbledore is going to finally talk about the Secret Santa today," she gushed.

"Aw, on top of all this crap, there's that too?" Ron cried, having forgotten that Dumbledore had mentioned that they were going to exchange presents.

"It's not crap Ron," Ginny argued. "I think it ought to be interesting."

"Yeah, unless you get some git, like a Slytherin," Ron snorted.

The two girls glared at him, but their stares were lost on him, seeing as Fleur had walked in. Ron seemed to have forgotten about the rest of them and was in complete rapture by her presence.

"I cannot believe that you have to be at least in your fourth year to attend the Yule Ball," Ginny sighed, looking over at Hermione. "That is ridiculous. I mean, what am I suppose to do?"

"Get an older student to ask you," Hermione replied nonchalantly. "I mean, you're pretty enough for someone to ask you."

Ginny blushed and smiled at her gratefully.

Everyone from Durmstrang filed into the Great Hall and sat down.

Once everyone was in the Great Hall, Dumbledore stood up.

"Good evening everyone," he smiled, "tomorrow will be the last day of classes before our Christmas break begins. By now, I am sure you have all been informed of the Yule ball that will happen on the 24th of December. Since I am aware that many of you shall be staying, I have decided to do a mainly muggle tradition called the Secret Santa. Many of you might not know what that is, so I shall explain. Those of you who do, please bare with me. Now, a secret santa is when you are given someone's name and for Christmas, you must get them a present. I, however, am also adding on this: you must take out your person on Christmas day to Hogsmeade and you are not allowed to tell your person that you are their secret santa until December 25th. If you do, well, you'll find yourself a pleasant surprise from me."

He chortled and sat back down. Instantly, the plates filled themselves with food, indicating that his speech was over.

"Well, that doesn't sound too bad," Ginny said.

"Speak for yourself," Ron muttered. "You aren't the one who has to ask someone to the Yule Ball and buy a present."

"Don't be such a child, Ronald," Hermione sighed. "If anything, you should be happy. In some places, people buy presents for someone else 12 days before Christmas. That way, they give them a present for each day."

Ron shuddered and grabbed a chicken leg.

"Who has time to do all that?" he asked, his voice distorted with the food in his mouth.

"So, Harry," Hermione looked over at him, "how is the egg?"

"Um, I was thinking about taking a break you know," he said, uncertainly, "I mean, I have until February before I need to start worrying about it."

Hermione sighed but didn't say anything. Maybe if she didn't nag about it, Harry would start to worry about it little by little until he did something about it.

Her eyes wandered over to the Slytherin table and she saw Draco looking at her intently. She started in shock, but didn't say anything. He then winked at her and Hermione flushed.

What was his problem?

"Hermione, are you okay?" Harry asked her.

"Um," she blinked rapidly, trying to form a coherent thought, "yeah, I' m fine." She looked away and smiled sheepishly at him. "Sorry."

He looked at her strangely, but then Ron grabbed his attention as he continued griping about the Yule Ball.

Hermione sighed and thanked her lucky stars that Harry liked to worry over Ron more than her. It made her life much more easier for her and gave her the ability to do whatever she wanted, when she wanted.

"So, how is Dumbledore going to have us pick a name for this thing?" Ginny asked.

"Gin, you aren't staying here," Ron sighed.

"Says you," she snapped back. "I don't have to listen to you Ronald Weasley."

Hermione grinned, but bit back her laugh. Harry, unfortunately, did not. Ron's ears turned red and he scowled at Harry.

"That's not funny," he snapped at him.

"I disagree," he snorted. Ron grabbed some pudding and threw it at him. Everyone near then started laughing and joined the game.

"How childish," Daphne sighed, watching as the Gryffindors began throwing food. "I don't know why anyone would want to be friends with that group." She looked at Draco from the corner of her eye and saw him scowling at her. She grinned and flipped her hair back. Merlin, she loved pissing him off.

"Well, at least they know how to have fun," Raven smirked and flicked some mashed potatoes at her hair.

Daphne shrieked and Raven cackled at her. Daphne grabbed the bowl of gravy and smashed it in her face. Raven gasped and Autumn, who was next to her, stared at her own robes in shock. They were splattered with gravy and she glared at her.

A bowl of Italian dressing flew past her face and hit Astoria square in the face. Draco laughed at the look on her and found a pie smashed down on his hair.

"What the hell?" he roared and soon the Slytherins were having their own food fight.

"Albus, aren't you going to do anything?" Minerva asked him from where she was sitting.

"No, I don't think so," he chuckled and watched the students laughing and playing around. "The Hall will clean itself up afterwards."

A good ten minutes later, the whole hall was filled with laughter and screams. Once dinner was over, the students trudged out, most covered in some sort of food or in a motley of them.

Hermione, Harry and Ron were all laughing as they left, surprised that a little conversation could create something as big as the food fight had been- students throwing food at random, House prejudices forgotten for the moment.

"Good night you guys," Hermione said and waved good-bye to them as she climbed up the stairs to go to the girls' dormitory. She sat down and pulled out a book, only to be interrupted by the door opening and Ginny bursting into the room.

Hermione blinked at her in surprise and Ginny stood there, heaving for a few minutes as she waited for her breath to come back.

"You okay there?" Hermione smirked. Ginny took in one last breath and stood up straight. "What the hell was that?" she yelled and Hermione winced.

"I don't understand what you mean," she said weakly. Ginny scowled and walked in, closing the door behind her.

"Fine, let me reiterate. Why was Draco Malfoy, Slytherin git, giving you googly eyes during dinner?" she scowled.

Hermione's face flushed and she gaped at her.

"He was not giving me googly eyes. And do me a favor, never put Draco's name with those ugly words you just said in the same sentence, ever again," she sighed. That had just been disturbing. She could never imagine a Malfoy being described as using googly eyes. That was just a terrifying thought.

"Oh please," Ginny rolled her eyes. "Don't play me the fool Hermione. I can tell when two people are attracted to each other, and trust me, you two are most definitely attracted to each other."

Hermione glared at the younger witch and scowled.

"We are not attracted to each other Ginevra," Hermione snapped at each other. "Honestly, what would make you think something as ridiculous as that? Malfoy and I like each other."

She snorted and Ginny smirked.

"So its Malfoy now? Because just a few seconds ago, you clearly called him Draco," Ginny said innocently. "So, I'm a little confused. I don't know if you are intent on hating him or intent on becoming his lover and therefore have to call him by his first name. I really doubt Malfoy would like you screaming his last name, it might ruin it for him."

Hermione felt her face heating up and she stood up.

"Get out," she said lowly, her eyes flashing dangerously. Ginny simply smiled and flounced out of the room. Hermione groaned and fell oh her bed. What was she supposed to do now? First, she went and let Draco start comforting her when Ginny was in front of them and now Ginny caught their little interaction in the Great Hall. Merlin, no wonder the girl thought they were secretly together.

Hermione sighed and rolled on her back. Tomorrow. Tomorrow she would explain everything to Ginny. Of course, she might need to ask the Weasley twins to help her out. Oh, but then Ginny might think that the whole thing was a prank.

_You idiot, why don't you just ask Luna and Raven, _she scolded herself. _They know Ginny and aren't the type who would prank anyone. Yeah, Luna might be a little weird, but she's very truthful. More so than need be, but nonetheless, they are perfect for this._

She smiled and drifted off to sleep, wondering who she would get for the Secret Santa ordeal.

The next morning, everyone was excited for dinner to arrive. Many had already signed up to stay over the Christmas break and wanted to find out how they would be given their person for Christmas.

Hermione made her way to Ancient Runes and plopped down next to Draco.

"You look great," he stated sarcastically. Hermione glared at him and rubbed her temple.

"Ginny is starting to get suspicious," she whispered at him. "So, I have to talk to her now."

"You're going to tell her," he hissed. "Why? Let her find out with everyone else. Just tell her to piss off."

Hermione glowered at him and Draco settled back in his seat angrily. He didn't want anyone else privy into their life that they had hidden so craftily from everyone for the past who knows how many years. It wasn't like everyone else wasn't going to find out anyways. Why did the little Weaselette have to be so bloody curious? He was going to kill her when he could get his hands on her.

"I'd rather you not," Hermione murmured. "She is one of my best friends. Plus, the only girl who's brain isn't filled all the time, with meaningless things."

"I don't think Lavender or Parvarti would be happy to hear that," Draco snickered. "They obviously love to think about Divination."

Hermione looked at him and was about to snap back at him when Professor Babbling interrupted her.

"Ms. Granger, Mr. Malfoy, if you would please cut the bickering," she sniffed and Hermione blushed.

The whole class was staring at them strangely. She looked away from all of them and focused towards the front. Professor Babbling was talking about what they had done. What was that? Oh yes, those sheets that they had translated. She was still vaguely interested in the ones that she and Draco had gotten, but it still seemed a little silly. After all, there was no way that a powerful wand, as that one claimed to be, could ever exist. Much less a stone that could bring the dead back, even if partially. That was just about the stupidest thing that she had ever heard. It wasn't even possible in the first place. Anyways, anyone who believed in those sort of things had to be somewhat hindered mentally.

She felt a nudge on her side and looked up in time to see everyone walking out. What was going on with her lately? She just felt so easily distracted all the time now.

_It's okay, Hermione, _Draco's voice flooded her mind. _You're just thinking about all your friends and subconsciously calling them idiots because you're scared._

Hermione swallowed, her throat aching now that Draco had reminded her that her friends might not be so willing to accept her in a few weeks time. She got up and Draco followed behind her.

"Hermione," he whispered and she looked back, her stomach feeling knotted suddenly at hearing him. She wondered briefly why it did so.

"What?" she asked him, not wanting to be late to Herbology.

"How about you take a break? You aren't doing any good right now in class and what makes you think it'll get any better right now?" Draco asked her, his eyebrow arching perfectly.

"It will get better because I'll make it better," she hissed and walked away. She hadn't meant to snap at him, but Draco had brought up the thoughts of her fear at being rejected by those she called friends. It wouldn't be easy, that was a given. Being known as Hermione Granger for so long here and then she was going to admit that she had lied to everyone and that she was really Amelia Pucey, a pureblood.

Hermione shuddered and forced a smile when she saw her two friends.

"Hey," Harry said. "I'm so pumped for today to end. No more classes, nothing to do with homework-"

"Harry, we still have homework," Hermione cut him off. "And anyways, you also have the egg to work out."

His smile seemed to slide off his face and Hermione bit the inside of her cheek in worry. Merlin, why did she always do that?

"Well, its not even January yet," he grumbled and they made their way to Herbology silently. Ron muttered something under his breath and Hermione saw Harry's mouth quirk slightly. She fought back a sigh and simply went to sit down.

Blaise was right. It Didn't matter what Harry and Ron thought. She was never really a part of their group. They had their own inside jokes, hung out all the time and were the two who managed to get into mischief, only to drag her with them.

Well, their friendship would soon be tested and Hermione, for one, wasn't going to depend on them. Blaise was right, she had so many other people who would support her, what did it matter if Harry and Ron couldn't come to terms with her heritage.

With that somewhat appeasing thought, Hermione smiled softly to herself and looked down at her essay that she had written.

"Hey, isn't that not due yet?" Ron asked her worriedly.

"No, Ronald," she sighed, "it's not due yet."

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**A/N- i love foreshadowing. ;). Anyways, Hermione is slowly slipping in her little facade, at least when it comes to Ginny. Anyways, not sure when the next update will be since school is starting soon for me. So, still kind of stuck as to what I am going to do for Viktor Krum with the Yule Ball, so please help! I would love to hear suggestions as to who should be Krum's date. you guys are amazing! And thanks to everyone who has reviewed and to xxfallblossomsxx for pushing me and reminding me to write this chapter. haha. I'm so lazy sometimes. Until next chapter. :)**


	16. Chapter 16 Christmas Break

**A/N: I am so sorry that I haven't updated in forever, but my computer got a particularily nasty virus and it just got fixed. However, I do have more chapters to post up, but with work I may not post up ch 17 until the end of the week. For anyone still reading this or who has been anticipating for the next chapter, I present Chapter 16. Remember, reviews make the world go round. :)**

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Chapter Sixteen Christmas Break

Just as Christmas break rolled along, a time when most students would have been overjoyed for a break, they still found themselves as busy as if classes were still in session.

To begin with, many of the teachers had assigned some form of homework over the break and secondly, Dumbledore had finally managed to let the student body know who they had to give a gift to for Christmas. And on top of all that, those in fourth year and above were scrambling to find a date to the Yule Ball. Some, like Neville, were lucky enough to have gotten a date before break had began. Others, such as Ron and Harry still needed to snag a girl before "all the good ones were gone."

Not like either's first attempt had gone over so well.

"Harry, you of all people need to get a date," Hermione lightly swatted him with her book. Ron was deep in thought as he played Wizard's Chess against George.

Harry's stomach sank even further and he felt his heart constrict. He groaned and it seemed as if the spot he was sitting at sank a few inches.

"I don't even want to think about it," he mumbled dejectedly. "Fleur is already going with Roger Davis and Krum is taking Daphne from Slytherin. Has Cedric said anything about his date?"

"No," Hermione replied and Harry sighed in relief.

"Well, at least both the Hogwart's champion are currently dateless so far," Harry said.

"Come on Harry, you don't have that long until the Yule Ball," Hermione sighed. "Why let the pressure accumulate even more?"

Harry shrugged and looked down at his hands to avoid Hermione's disapproving stare. Hermione squeezed his hands reassuringly and stood up.

"I'll see you later then. And think really hard about who else you might want to ask," Hermione smiled sadly.

Harry nodded and watched glumly as Hermione walked out of the House.

Liam was doodling on the margins of his Herbology essay when he heard the door of the library open. He looked over lazily and saw Hermione Granger stroll in.

"Psst," he nudged Cedric discreetly, "Cedric, look who just got here."

Cedric looked up wearily up from the book he was reading and nearly toppled backwards in his chair in surprise.

Liam snickered and discreetly waved at Cedric's books and smirked as they fell loudly from the table. He slid his wand back into his bag and looked to where Hermione was at.

All the commotion caught her attention and she looked over to the table just as Cedric ducked under the table to pick his fallen books. Liam waved at her and she waved back, looking slightly confused.

"Has she kept on walking?" Cedric whispered.

"Yes, you daft idiot, she has moved on," Liam muttered. Cedric exhaled and sat back up, setting his books where they had been before. "You know, I have a feeling that a certain someone should be walking a certain someway in order ask a specific person a very good question," Liam hissed.

"Oh, and who would that be?" Cedric asked him, oblivious to the meaning behind his friend's statement.

"Stop being a prat," Liam scowled and hit Cedric over the head. "We all know you've been waiting to ask Hermione to the Yule Ball."

"Shh," Cedric looked around quickly, hoping no one had heard anything.

"Look, if you don't go over right now, I swear, I will get up right now and shout it out for everyone to hear," Liam snapped.

"Bloody hell," Cedric mumbled and packed up all of his things. "I'll see you later then, damn."

He stalked away and Liam smiled, leaning back on his chair. Oh yeah, he was good.

Cedric sighed and slowly made his way towards the back, where Hermione liked to sit at. A few girls winked at him and some waved at him. Cedric simply nodded back at them and kept on walking. It wasn't as if girls hadn't like him before, it was just never this many or even to this extent. It made their affections overwhelming. He loosened his tie in hopes that his nerves would go down and his stomach would stop acting so queasy. A couple of girls walked by and giggled at him. He forced a charming smile and they flushed red. Finally, he found the cause of his nerves sitting at an alcove with a few Ancient Rune books and some from Arithmancy.

"Hello Miss Granger," he whispered and was amused to see Hermione jump slightly in surprise and drop the book that she had been holding. "sorry," Cedric muttered and immediately retrieved it from the ground.

"Its fine, thanks," Hermione smiled and looked down at the book once Cedric gave it back to her.

"So, tell me, why is such a beautiful witch such as you holed up in the library during break?" Cedric grinned.

"Well, um, I guess the same thing you are," she replied, holding the book closer to herself.

"Ah, so you too must be waiting for the person of your dreams to appear so that you can watch them from afar," Cedric nodded in understanding.

"What? No!" Hermione yelped softly, "I'm studying."

"Hmm, well that isn't as exciting," Cedric sighed and plucked the book out of her hand, "I guess I'm just going to have to change that."

He let the book float back to its spot and sat down next to her.

"So, are you ready for the Yule Ball?" he asked her.

"Well, not really," she admitted. "I've been so busy with all my assignments and trying to convince Harry that he shouldn't wait until last minute until getting a date."

"Harry remains dateless?" Cedric looked surprised.

"Yeah," Hermione nodded, "I guess the girl he wanted to go with already has a date and so now he has no idea who to ask. I mean, he gets loads of offers, you'd think he'd just take one of those silly girls."

"Well, maybe Harry wants to take someone he would enjoy being with," Cedric shrugged.

Who are you going with?" Hermione asked him. "What lucky girl gets to be in your company?"

Cedric laughed and shook his head yet.

"No girl yet, I confess," he told her.

"You're just as bad as Harry," Hermione laughed, "waiting until last minute to ask someone."

"I just want to make sure that the girl is still available," Cedric sighed. "Though, I would be surprised if she was."

Well, you should get a move on," Hermione smiled, "wouldn't want to let her slip away would you?"

"No, I must say that would be awful," Cedric agreed. "And how about you, Miss Granger, who will you be escorted by to this wondrous event?"

"Oh, well actually, I haven't got a date," Hermione stammered. "I've been so busy trying to get Harry to man up and I've let several opportunities go by. I mean, I was so busy with Harry and then later I found out- if you can believe it- that Viktor Krum had been trying to ask me but I was never there long enough for him to ask me."

"Oh, I believe it," Cedric grinned. "Only you would have another guy get in the way of a happy ending. Even worse, a guy who doesn't have a date and probably hasn't even noticed that you are absolutely free and would be great company at such a terrible event."

"The Yule Ball isn't a terrible event," Hermione disagreed. "It seems wonderful if you ask me."

"Ah, well you aren't a champion, so you don't have the ultimate pressure of finding a date. After all, we are opening the dance. So just imagine standing there all alone, you'd be the joke of the century," Cedric informed her.

"You know, being a girl and attending the Yule Ball alone is pretty humiliating also, but even I think it would still be a great event to attend," Hermione smirked.

"Do you think you could come up for a solution for the predicament I find myself in?" Cedric asked her.

"I already told you," Hermione nudged him, "all it takes is for you to pluck up the courage to go up to the girl you really want to go with and just ask her."

"I see," Cedric nodded. "Well, in that case, if you'll please excuse me."

He stood up and began walking away before suddenly turning and walking to her, clasping her hands in his and asked, "Hermione Granger, will you allow me to have the honor to escort you to the Yule Ball?"

Hermione gaped at him, stunned and speechless, unable to wrap her mind that Cedric Diggory wanted to go with her to the Yule Ball. She then realized that a) this was really happening and b) Cedric was probably thinking that she was going to say no because he looked very uncomfortable all of a sudden.

"Yes, I would love to go the Ball with you," she answered breathlessly and Cedric felt a rush of relief sweep through him.

"Wow, I think this was more nerve wracking than having to face a dragon," Cedric laughed.

"I'm sorry, it's just that you caught me really off guard," Hermione told him.

Cedric grinned and sat down next to her again. "Well, I thought I was cutting it really close waiting until now to ask you."

"Yes! I mean, what would you have done if I said no, or had told you that I was already going with someone else? Or, imagine if Viktor Krum had been able to ask me and I had said yes. Where would that leave you?" Hermione asked him.

"That would leave me in an absolutely awkward situation," Cedric shrugged, "and a really unfortunate one too. I guess I should just be glad that it didn't turn out that way."

Draco walked into the Slytherin Common room and frowned at the sight of Raven curled up in a crook of the room alone. He walked over to her and leaned on a table to look down at her.

"Where's Autumn?" he asked her. Raven shrugged but didn't look up from whatever she was looking at.

"Want to know something Draco?" Raven finally asked him after a moment's silence. "Your sister is a manipulative, malicious, conniving whore," she spat out. "For the past years, all she has complained about to everyone is how I'm too clingy, even though she knows very well why. Then, when I find people that I want to hang out with, she gets all hissy and possessive." Raven scowled and glared at him.

"You know better than all of us how my sister is," Draco reminded her. "As long as something is hers, she doesn't want it. But once she can't have it she'll do anything to get it back."

"I don't care," Raven moaned. "I've wasted two years with her, and even more with my friendship. I know her excuses very well. She doesn't know how she feels yet, she's still too young to sort out her feelings, it could all be a phase, she loves me but not enough, she just wants to try new things, blah, blah, blah. I'm a person and it's my feelings she keeps trampling on."

"Raven, it's what I've been trying to explain to you all this time. Let my sister go. I don't say this because she's my sister, but because you don't deserve to be treated like shit. I care not only because your friend is my brother, but because-"

"I'm related to _her,_" Raven sighed. "I know. You just want her to be the happiest person in the world and unfortunately for you, she cares for other people too. Well, just to let you know, my cousin doesn't even know I'm bent. Now, if you don't mind, I need to get out of here."

She stood up and dusted off her pants.

"Oh, and if you see your darling sister, tell her to piss off. I'm sick of her mug."

Raven stormed out and headed out the castle, to the grounds. As she walked around the fields, she saw a bright blonde streak of her twirl about. Walking closer, Raven smiled in recognition of the bubbly and eccentric Ravenclaw.

Luna stopped spinning and smiled warmly at her.

"Hello Raven," she said cheerfully. "Why are you outside without any winter wear? You'll freeze to death. Here, take my scarf."

She unwrapped her scarf and wound around Raven's neck before she could protest.

"Thanks," Raven murmured. "How are you today?"

"Fine. I seem to have misplaced my books though. I suspect the nargles are up to their mischief again," Luna told her. "I'm hoping to find them before our break is over, but I don't think I'll be able to."

"Well, we can share books if you want to," Raven said. "Just sit next to me in any class we have together and whichever we don't, I can just lend them to you."

"That would be nice," Luna answered.

"Have you asked the people in your House if they've seen them?" Raven asked.

"Oh, they don't really talk to me," Luna sighed. "Not many people do, even less in public."

"Well," Raven sniffed disdainfully and smiled at her, "they don't know what they're missing out on."

"That's nice of you to say," Luna nodded, "I'm sure even you would rather be with someone else right now. Like Autumn for instance."

Raven grimaced at the sound of the other girl's name and shook her head. "Not at all," Raven informed her. "Autumn is being a downright pain in the arse right now. She enjoys being in control and I am sick of playing her little game."

"I'm sure she doesn't mean to frustrate you," Luna said. "She is a Malfoy and a bit spoiled when it comes to certain things. I mean, look at Draco for instance. He hates how Cedric Diggory is smitten with Amelia and finds it extremely annoying that she cares so much about what Harry and Ron think of her. If it were up to him, he would try and lock her up like some sort of prized porcelain doll and never let anyone play with her. Autumn, however, is your prized porcelain doll, or was. The thing is, she likes to rile you up by letting other people "play" with her. However, she's upset now because in her mind, she is no longer a novelty in your eyes and that you've found something prettier to play with."

As the two girls talked, they slowly started walking without noticing their actions. Snow had stared to drift down lightly by then and the sky was slowly changing colors as the sun began its descent.

"Autumn is crazy," Raven fumed and Luna gently placed a consoling hand on the dark haired girl's shoulder. "It's not like she can expect me to isolate myself here like I did in Beauxbatons. I mean, I could have been on dates, hung out with more people. But for the sake of Autumn, I rarely talked to anyone, especially if she wasn't there with me. How dare she think I would do that all over again when I have the opportunity to start over new!"

"But Raven, don't you see? That is exactly what Autumn wanted you to do. Not hang out with the Weasley twins, or become amiable Ginny. Much less did she want you talking to me," Luna explained to her. "For these past few years, Autumn has been the star of your play, not you. I don't think she ever expected to see you try and live a life that no longer revolved around her. You've opened your eyes Raven," Luna looked directly at the hazel eyed girl. They both stopped and faced each other. "And now, you're your own star, and Autumn probably doesn't love the idea too much."

Raven stared at the girl and let out a shaky breath. She placed her hands on Luna's shoulders and smiled at her, however, before she could even say anything, someone called out her name and Raven winced, the little bubble she had been in was shattered.

"Thanks, Luna," she muttered and dropped her hands to her side before turning to the source of the voice.

"Raven," Autumn ran over to them and smiled sweetly, "there you are. I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Well, here I am," she said warily.

"Excellent. You know, well we have another Hogsmeade trip coming up and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me. Just you and me, like back in the old days," Autumn asked.

Raven look confounded, unsure of what to say. "Um, let me get back to you on that," she finally said.

"Okay then. I'll see you around," Autumn waved good bye and walked away.

"Wow, I can't believe she could just ignore you like that, as if you guys didn't know each other at all," Raven scowled.

"It isn't that big of a deal," Luna told her. "She just wants to hang out with you."

"Wait, you aren't really going to leave me alone with Autumn at Hogsmeade, are you?" Raven grasped Luna's arm, "Please don't."

"I think it was very clear that I wasn't invited," Luna laughed softly. "Anyways, I still need to find a present for my person."

"Fine," Raven pouted. "How about this, you get your present and I'll hang out with Autumn. After, we'll hang out at The Three Broomsticks."

"Sounds like a plan," Luna nodded.

"You're the best," Raven hugged the blonde tightly. "Thanks so much Luna."

"You're welcome. Now let's get inside, lunch is about to begin," Luna said and the two girls trudged back to the school.

Draco walked out of the Slytherin common room and headed up to the Great Hall. He saw Hermione come down the stairs and scowled at the sight of Diggory. Merlin, couldn't he hang around someone else?

At the doors, before Hermione went in, he saw her say something and then turn back, Cedric entering the Hall by himself.

"Well Draco, could you think any louder?" Hermione smiled and headed over to him.

"What can I say, I still don't like him," Draco shrugged and hugged her tightly. "How have you been?"

"Really good," Hermione told him brightly. "How about you? I feel like we haven't talked in forever."

"That's because we haven't talked in forever," Draco reminded her. "You have been to busy with everything else and I feel as if I have been shoved aside."

"Well, I'm sorry you baby," Hermione laughed. "We have a Hogsmeade trip tomorrow. Want to go with me? Give me some advice as to what I should get my person for Christmas. After all, out presents need to be ready in three days and then the Yule Ball is the next day. I'm not ready for any of those."

"Okay," Draco nodded, "I'll meet you tomorrow. Do you want to go together or meet up at Hogsmeade?"

"Let's meet there," Hermione said, "at Hog's Head. That way we can avoid as many questions as possible."

"Fine," Draco bit back a sigh and simply agreed. Once the New Years rolled around, there wouldn't be anymore of these stupid precautions. And who knows, maybe Diggory would leave her alone if he knew who she really was.

Hermione's elbow hit his stomach and Draco doubled over.

"I heard that you jerk," Hermione grumbled. "I don't understand what it is that you have against him, anyways."

"Well, we just don't need another Nathaniel Turpin problem," Draco shrugged.

"It won't be a problem as long as you stop being such a git," Hermione laughed, poking his side. "Come on, we still have to go to lunch."

She walked on ahead and Draco chuckled at her.

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**Sorry for the weak ending, yeesh. :/**


	17. Chapter 17 Pressure

**A/N- Yay! i was able to finish ch 17 faster than expected. well, this is for anyone out there who is still reading this story. I would love to read your guys' thoughts on the story; if there were any mistakes, something you liked or anything really. Thanks for sticking with this story to all those still reading this. :]**

* * *

Chapter Seventeen Pressure

The next day dawned with a fresh sheet of snow on the ground and the sun shining out a bit behind the clouds. Hermione was lying on her bed, a smile of contentment on her face. All the other girls were fumbling around, getting ready to leave and talking about who they either wanted to go with or who had already asked them. All Hermione wanted to do was squeal in excitement and let the whole world know that she, bookish Hermione Granger had a date to the Yule Ball. And he was a champion, no less.

She smiled to herself and finally rolled out of bed once her roommates left the room. She walked over to the bathrooms and began to prepare herself for the day ahead.

Down in the Slytherin House, one upset Malfoy lay in bed, thoughts in a turmoil. She was staring over at the girl in the bed next to her, wondering what had happened to their friendship. Gone where the days when Raven used to bend over backwards to make her happy and the days where she was Raven's world, all of her happiness ruined by one eccentric, bubbly blonde.

Raven shifted in her sleep, so that she was now facing Autumn and a smile could be seen playing on her lips. She murmured something to soft for Autumn to hear, but whatever it was, it made her smile more prominent.

Autumn scowled and got out of bed. There was no way she was going to act like a petulant child. She was still a Malfoy and Malfoys' always got what they wanted. Raven would come running back eventually, she always did.

Rustling noises brought Raven out of her dream state and she cracked open her eyes to see who was making such ruckus. At the sight of Autumn's platinum blonde hair, she sighed softly and turned her back to her. Today was going to be hell.

"Raven," she heard Autumn whisper and then prod her softly. "Raven, are you awake? I need your opinion on something."

As Autumn poked her, Raven finally cracked her eyes open and muttered a groggy, "What?"

"I need you to look at something for me please," Autumn told her. With that, Raven slowly sat up and looked at her. Autumn was standing there, clad in plain jeans and her bra with two shirts in front of her. "What color do you think I should go with?"

Raven groaned and flopped back onto bed, face down.

Autumn frowned at the muffled noises coming from Raven and she put her hands on her hips.

"Speak up, I have no idea what you're saying to me," Autumn whined.

"I said," Raven sighed and looked blankly at Autumn, "go with the teal one." With that, she quickly got out of bed and ran onto the bathroom, locking herself in. Her head was reeling and she slid down to sit on the tile bathroom floor.

"Oh Merlin," she muttered to herself, head in her hands. "I can't believe Luna was right." She heaved a sigh and bit back a scream. Autumn really was no longer her "favorite, shiny toy," as Luna had so put it. But then, who had replaced Autumn on the pedestal on which she had placed her long ago?

Autumn frowned and sat down in confusion. Raven hated the color blue, and any shade really that pertained to it. Why would she tell her to wear teal when a magenta colored shirt had been the other choice?

"Whatever," she muttered and finished getting dressed. Just as she finished putting on her boot, Raven walked right back in. She didn't say a single word or even glance her way, but instead mechanically put on her clothes. With hot pink skinny jeans and a purple top on, Raven headed out the door only to run back in quickly.

"Almost forgot my boots," she laughed softly and started out the door again. She quickly stopped and peered back over at Autumn. "Hey, I'll meet you at the Great Hall at ten, so then we can go to, yeah whatever."

Autumn had barely moved from her spot, in shock at Raven's outfit. "Where the hell did she get pink pants?"

Hermione made her way down to the Great Hall and was surprised to see so much activity at such an early hour. As she made her way to the Gryffindor table, she looked around and realized that the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons had decided to join them for breakfast. She sat down next to Harry and flushed slightly as Cedric caught her eye and grinned shyly at her.

"Morning everyone," she beamed and put a slice of toast on her plate. "Could someone pass me the jam please?"

Harry sat there with his fork raised half way to his mouth while Ron had food hanging half out of his mouth. They both stared at Hermione oddly and tried to wrap the fact that Hermione was cheerful at such an early hour for apparently no reason. Ron passed the jam to her cautiously, afraid that she would turn on him and curse him in some painful and unimaginable way.

"Here you go Hermione," Ron swallowed his food nervously.

"Thanks Ron," Hermione smiled and spread on her toast the jam. As she did, the owls swooped in, bearing letters from home. Among the flock, Hermione was surprised to see Adrian's mocha colored owl swoop down. She chuckled and slipped the letter off the owl before it could attract any attention.

"What a beautiful owl," Parvarti said to the left of her as it took a sip from Hermione's pumpkin juice. "Who is that from?"

"No one important," Hermione laughed, it sounding false even to her own ears. "Just, um, just Professor Lupin giving me some details for my essay in Ancient Runes. Oh, look at the time, I must be off!"

She nearly jumped away from her seat and practically bounded out of the Hall.

"That was weird," Lavender commented as she took a bite off of a sausage link. "Now I really want to know what was on that letter."

Hermione walked around until she found herself in an empty corridor near the North Tower and sat down at a bench before pulling the letter out. There, in Adrian's graceful scrawl was the name Amelia Pucey.

She closed her eyes and wondered what would have happened if anyone had even seen a peek of that name. Once her moment was over, Hermione let out a shaky sigh and opened the letter.

_Dear Amelia,_

_It is great to hear from you after so long an absence. I must say, once you arrive here, things are bound to look up. Father is already preparing a room for you and I hope it is to your liking. We've mainly only had help from Draco, so if you hate it, blame him._

_Now as for the reason as to why you wrote me in the first place._

_In all honesty, I must say that losing a Weasley as a friend does not seem so terrible to me, but you are the one who knows him so I may be completely incorrect. But really, how much of friends can your friends be if they let such a simple thing such as a name ruin your friendship? And if they cannot accept you for it, then are they truly worth fretting over? Being upset over a name is so silly, but considering that you are a Pucey and we are held in such high esteem and just happen to be the most influential name- second only to the Malfoy-, well, it would be no fault of theirs to be so intimidated._

_Remember Amelia, everything happens for a reason. If your friends do become angered over a name change and an alteration in appearance, simply give them a few days to become accustomed to it. It may very well simply be that they are in shock. Especially considering that you are a Pucey in Gryffindor._

_Way to pull a Sirius Black on us dear sister. Until next time,_

_Forever your brother,_

_Adrian Pucey_

Hermione smiled fondly at the letter and folded it back into her pocket. Of course Adrian wouldn't be able to understand her situation completely, but only he would know what to say to ease her nerves and give her good advice.

She stood up and quickly made her way back to the Gryffindor House. By the sound of things, it seemed like it was almost time to leave for Hogsmeade. She got into the dormitory and went up the stairs to the girl's area. Luckily, no one was on the room so she stuffed the letter into the bottom of her trunk and pulled out her favorite grey coat. Once she had all her things and her money in her pocket, Hermione walked down to the common room and stopped in surprise at the sight of Harry and Ron, both ready to leave.

"Harry, I didn't think you would be going also," Hermione exclaimed as she walked over to them.

"Where else would I go?" Harry laughed.

"Well, I just thought that you would take the time to figure out your clue. I mean, just two days ago you were complaining that it was too noisy for you to work. And I mean, anyone who is here is most likely going to Hogsmeade right now," Hermione told him.

"Hermione, I still have two months to figure that clue out. Don't worry," Harry reminded her. "I'm fine."

"Yeah, to bad you only have two days to find a partner to the Yule Ball," Ron laughed and Ginny stopped behind Hermione, startled at the news.

Harry winced and shook his head, "Ugh, don't remind me."

"Wait a minute," Ron gasped and looked at Hermione as if seeing her for the first time, "Hermione, you're a girl."

"Well spotted, Ronald," Hermione said acidly, crossing her arms.

"Well, you can come with one of us," he said animatedly. Hermione quickly uncrossed her arms and fidgeted slightly.

"Actually, I can't go with either of you," she mumbled.

"Oh please," Ron sighed impatiently, "Harry and I need partners. We're going to look like daft idiots- Harry more than me- if we end up going alone."

"I can't go with either of you because someone already asked me and I said yes," Hermione snapped.

"No you're not," Ron laughed. "Now, stop being so stubborn Mione."

"Look, just because it has taken you a total of three years to figure out that I'm a girl doesn't meant that no one else has been clever enough to figure that out before you," Hermione said, her eyes flashing dangerously.

"Okay, I'm sorry. We know you're a girl," said Ron soothingly, "now, will you please just go with one of us?"

"I already said no Ron," Hermione exclaimed angrily, "don't be so daft!"

She stormed out of the House and Ron shook his head in disbelief.

"She's lying," he said flatly. "Right?" he looked around, hoping someone would agree with him.

"She's not," Ginny muttered and the two wizards looked at her in surprise, having forgotten she was there.

"Well then, you tell us who she's going with," Ron scowled.

"Actually, Hermione never really told me, but-"

"Ah, well there you go. So no one really knows if she's got a date or not" Ron cut her off.

"If you would just listen," Ginny snapped, "Hermione just has a sort of energy and giddiness to her that she did not have a few days ago, and I might just happen to know someone who saw what happened, but I have been sworn to secrecy. Anyways, Lavender and Parvarti were talking about this during breakfast after Hermione ran out. Don't you two ever listen?"

"Fine then," Ron sighed impatiently, "Ginny, you go with Harry and I'll just-"

"I can't," Ginny mumbled, her face coloring. "Someone already asked me."

Ron groaned in frustration and shook his fists in the air.

"Why does this have to be so difficult? Well," he shrugged, "at least there's comfort in knowing that Neville is most likely going alone too. But he can just take himself."

The two wizards laughed and Ginny frowned.

"Don't make fun of him," she said. "Anyways, Neville already has a date. Has had one for awhile. He um, he asked me and uh, I think I'm going now."

She walked out miserably and Ron stood there gaping.

"What is wrong with these two?"

Hermione walked passed the teachers checking all the students and once she was alone, she let her tears fall silently. Ron was such an ass sometimes and just because he couldn't figure out what he wanted didn't mean that other guys didn't notice her.

At the sound of the snow softly crunching and the presence of someone else's thoughts, Hermione hastily wiped away her tears.

"Are you okay?" a girl asked and Hermione looked over to see a doe eyed girl staring at her.

"Who are you?" Hermione asked, not recognizing who she was.

"Oh, yeah, I'm Tracey Davis," the girl said quickly, sticking her hand out to shake hers. Hermione did so cautiously and frowned.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"Well, sort of," Tracey said. "We were partners for both Potions and Transfiguration. I tend to not really talk if I'm around a lot of people, like in class. We have a bunch of classes together actually. I'm in your Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy, Potions, Transfiguration, and Astronomy. We actually had Muggle Studies last year together also."

"Oh," Hermione looked abashed, "wow. In that case, I feel terrible for not having recognized you."

"It's no big deal. I don't call attention to myself and I'm fine with that," Tracey smiled. "Anyways, it helps for when I make friends with someone and they don't know anything about me so then nothing is held against me."

"I guess that's one way to go at it," Hermione murmured.

"Yeah, so anyways, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, thanks," Hermione sighed.

Tracey laughed and shook her head. "Fine isn't quite a feeling, now is it?"

"Sure it is," Hermione argued. "It's a valid and a completely legitimate feeling."

"Well, perhaps to people that can't face their feelings at the moment," Tracey agreed.

"Look, just because we were partners for Potions and Transfiguration doesn't mean I'm suddenly going to spill all of my secrets to you. We still barely know each other," Hermione countered.

"True, but it doesn't quite look as if you really have anyone else to talk to at the moment," Tracey smiled. "I'm all ears. Well, obviously not considering I have a visage, and arms, legs, fingers, and toes. So, perhaps I'm not all ears, but I am willing to listen."

Hermione bit back a laugh and simply smiled.

"I guess you make a valid argument," Hermione conceded. "If you must know, I'm in this state because of Ronald."

"And what state would that be?" Tracey asked her.

"Angry, upset, hurt, and very offended," Hermione finally said after a moments pause. "That tactless prat dares to finally realize that I really am a girl and not just one of the guys and seriously tried to use me as a last resort for the Yule Ball."

"Well, that seems a little rude," Tracey shook her head.

"And Harry just stood there, letting Ron dig himself an even deeper hole. They're both just idiots," Hermione sniffed. "And the worst part is that those two jerks can't even believe that someone would go and actually ask me to the Yule Ball. Just because they're thick skulled doesn't mean every guy is," Hermione scowled and Tracey winced, feeling sorry for the Gryffindor.

"I'm sure if Harry thought it through, he would've realized that he could've gone to the Yule Ball with you," Tracey said sympathetically.

"Maybe. If I dressed and acted more feminine," Hermione sighed.

"Don't let them get you down," Tracey smiled and squeezed her shoulder. "They don't define you and neither do their words."

"Well, Hermione Granger, my friends are waiting for me and if I leave them waiting for me any second longer, I'm sure they'll truly kill me," Tracey sighed. "It was nice finally meeting you. Maybe we can hang out tomorrow or something."

"Sure, that'd be great," Hermione nodded, "meet me after breakfast, then?"

"Sounds like a plan," Tracey smiled, "Bye."

Hermione watched her walk away and realized that she had never figured out what House Tracey was in. She looked around and realized that their conversation had taken longer than she thought and she was in front of the Hog's Head. She walked in and hoped that Draco was already there.

"About time," his voice came from the right and she looked over to see a table with only one occupant there. "Can we go now? I honestly cannot stand this place another second longer."

"Fine, it's you I'm waiting on anyways," Hermione joked.

"Oh please," he scoffed and walked over to her, dusting himself off as he did. "I don't think I'll ever be able to wear this ever again."

"You're fine Draco," Hermione rolled her eyes and pulled his hand away from. "Let's go already."

The two started walking towards the main part of Hogsmeade and Hermione wrapped a scarf around herself in order to avoid being recognized, her hair having already been tucked into her jacket.

"Great, now you look like a dork," Draco muttered.

"Shut it Draco," Hermione snapped. "Let's just enjoy today. Now come on, you need to help me pick out a present."

"Well, who did you get?" Draco asked her.

"Crabbe, unfortunately," Hermione frowned. "Now, I want to get something that isn't too costly, because frankly we all know that he's just going to chuck it once he finds out who gave it to him. So, what do you suggest I should get him?"

"Merlin, I don't know. You'd have better luck asking Goyle," Draco told her.

"Aren't you two friends though?" Hermione asked him curiously. "I thought you would know each other's likes and dislikes."

"Don't make me laugh," Draco smirked. "Us Slytherins aren't like you and your little Gryffindor pals, Mia. We don't make friends. I've already explained this to you. Think of it as more of a business arrangement."

"Great, just great," Hermione scowled. She hated when Draco got cold and all Slytherin like. It annoyed the hell out of her.

"Of course, I don't think that about you," Draco said and hugged her tightly to him. "Never worry about that." Hermione relaxed into his embrace and closed her eyes tightly.

"Well, what do I do now about my gift?" she sighed. Draco's chest began to rumble as he laughed ad he let go of her in disbelief.

"Nice to know shopping is more worrisome right now than how we stand," Draco grinned and tugged lightly on the ends of her scarf. "Thanks for making me feel so important Mia."

"I try," she snickered and suddenly an idea came into mind. "I've got it! Come with me."

She dragged him along with her and finally let go of him when they entered Honeydukes.

"Now, I do recall that in our second year that Crabbe and Goyle both loved eating sweets. That's how I got to take those sleeping draughts, by sneaking them into cupcakes and giving them to Harry and Ron so that they could knock them out in order to," she trailed off and her eyes widened nervously.

"To do what, exactly?" Draco narrowed his eyes.

"Um, never mind. Do they still like sweets?" Hermione squeaked and walked away quickly.

"Oi, get back here," Draco growled. "What the hell did you do in our second year?"

"Let's see. I'll get him sugar quills and some of these chocolate frogs. Oh look, there's dark chocolate now," Hermione muttered.

"What in the bloody hell did you three do?" Draco whispered furiously in her ear, grabbing her arm tightly and spinning her to face him.

"Never mind that, I'm busy," Hermione pried his hand off of her and shoved some sweets into his arms. "Hold these for me please. I still need more before I'm happy with my purchase,"

She walked away, leaving Draco in disbelief.

Cedric and Liam walked into the Three Broomsticks and sat down at a table a little towards the back of the place.

"So, will you tell me already what happened?" Liam asked. "All yesterday you were so unresponsive."

Cedric smiled and sighed, his eyes glazing over as he recalled the events from the day before.

"Just like that," Liam sighed in frustration. "I swear, you're worse than some lovestruck girl."

"Yeah," Cedric agreed, his friend's words falling upon deaf ears.

"Earth to Cedric," Liam said, waving his hand in front of his friend's face.

"I'm sorry, what?" Cedric blinked and Liam shook his head in amusement.

"I'm just going to guess that yesterday was a good day," Liam laughed, "considering that you keep zoning out on me every time you think about yesterday."

"Liam, it was better than good, it was amazing," Cedric told him. I got incredibly lucky, because she was still available even though Harry and her other friend were still looking for a date. I can't those two blokes didn't even think about asking her right away."

"It was just your day, wasn't it," Liam mumbled.

"Yes, yes it was. Now let's get some butterbeer, I'm paying."

"How about you get the drinks and I save the table," Liam offered suddenly, not even knowing himself why he had the sudden urge to save their table even though the place wasn't all that busy.

"Sure, okay," Cedric agreed and walked over to the bar where Madam Rosmerta was serving Hagrid as he conversed with Professor Moody.

"Ah, Cedric, how are you?" Professor Moody asked him as someone called Hagrid away from the area.

"Good, thank you Professor," Cedric nodded.

"And the clue? Getting anywhere with that?"

"Mm, not yet unfortunately," Cedric sighed in disappointment. "I just can't seem to figure out how to stop the unearthly screeching."

"Well, how about I tell you a secret as long as I have your word that you won't go running around about where you got the information from," Moody smiled eerily, his eyes glinting in a way that chilled Cedric to the bone.

"Okay, Cedric answered hesitantly.

Liam sighed and looked back to see what was taking his friend so long with their drinks. At the sight of their D.A.D.A. teacher huddled with Cedric, Liam couldn't help but feel a sense of unease settle around him. No way could this end up well.

Harry tried to enjoy all the new products at Dervish & Banges, but Ron's constant stream of useless worrying was really starting to grate on his nerves.

"Ron, who cares about who Hermione might be going to the Yule Ball with. Honestly, it really isn't a big deal," Harry said, trying to keep the frustration out of his voice.

"Yes it is. We would tell her who we would be going with, so why can't she? Is she embarrassed by the person or is it because no one has actually asked her?" Ron muttered.

"It's because we'd bug the mickey out of her if she told us," Harry responded, hoping to end the conversation and walked down another aisle. "How much do you know about Dean?" Harry asked suddenly and pulled out a pair of dragon hide gloves. "Do you think he'd like these? He could use them for goalie gloves and Keeper ones."

"Good idea," Ron nodded, deterred from his worries at the mention of Quidditch. "I got it much easier. Since I have Hannah Abbot, I just went and asked Neville what he would like to get and went with that."

"Yeah, well, we all know what you would like, Harry grinned and nudged Ron as Fleur passed by outside with other students from Beauxbatons.

"Oh Merlin," Ron whimpered and turned a hideous shade of red as he ducked behind Harry in order to avoid recognition. "Most embarrassing moment of my life."

Once the group passed by, Ron straightened up and cleared his throat.

"So Harry, gotten anywhere with that clue of yours?" Ron asked.

Harry snorted and shook his head. "Who do you think you're talking to?"

"Yeah, that's sort of what I was thinking too," Ron shrugged.

"Just, um, don't tell Hermione, okay? I think she might kill me if she knew I have done nothing about it."

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me," Ron smiled.

Draco and Hermione stepped out of Honeydukes, Draco carrying the sweets meant for Crabbe.

"I hope he'll eat these before wondering who gave them to him," Hermione muttered as she looked at the sweets.

"He won't bother asking," Draco chuckled. "Once he sees them, it'll be in his stomach before you can say hello."

"Well, you do know Professor Dumbledore is going to make us reveal ourselves at the Yule Ball," Hermione sighed. "So you better get a handle on him."

"No worries," Draco grinned and tossed an arm around her shoulder as they ducked into Gladrags Wizardwear. "Why in Merlin's name are we here?"

"Oh, well, Lavender informed me recently that they actually happen to sell some hair products here and well, I need something for my hair," Hermione explained. "Since we do need our hair down, I need something to manage my hair because the winter weather makes it frizzy at night. And well, that's all I need for the Yule Ball."

"That's it?" Draco asked in disbelief.

"Yes. Luckily, I already have my dress robes and my shoes to go with it. Adrian mentioned that he had something that he wanted me to wear also, so I'm covered when it comes to my accessories," Hermione informed him. They got to the back of the stair and Hermione peered at all the hair products there.

"How about a date?" Draco smirked. "Who's taking you, Ron or Harry?"

"Neither," Hermione's cheek became a slight pink hue and she picked up a bottle so she wouldn't have to look Draco in the eyes.

"Oh?" Draco felt as if his stomach had disappeared and he felt oddly hollow. "Do tell who will be taking you then."

"You'll find out that night," Hermione muttered and finally found what it was she wanted.

Draco looked over her shoulder and peered at the words on the label.

"Sleekeazy's Hair Potion?" she snorted.

"Can it Malfoy," Hermione sniffed, "not all of us are lucky enough to be born with smooth tame hair. Anyways, Lavender told me it works really well and she just happens to be more knowledgeable than I when it comes to this area."

"If you say so," Draco shrugged.

"I say so," Hermione retorted. "Now, tell me. Who will you be taking to the Yule Ball?"

"Well, I would've taken you if it weren't for your stupid, pointless worries-"

"They are neither stupid nor pointless," Hermione scowled.

"Anyways, since Pansy was practically bugging me everyday to just ask her, I went to ask Astoria. Thankfully, she said yes. Of course, I went and explained to her that I am going to the Yule Ball and that is it. She shouldn't expect our convenient arrangement go any further," Draco explained.

"Wow,, way to be so unromantic," Hermione chuckled.

"So what? I have absolutely no romantic inclinations towards her and I simply don't want her to get any ideas or to get her hopes up," Draco shrugged. "Saves us all from any awkward situations."

"I guess that's kind of, noble," Hermione said hesitantly, unsure of how the logic worked out.

"Don't stress yourself," Draco laughed, "anyways, let's just buy this and go back to the castle. It's better there anyways."

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